


Survivors

by Pheonix_Inside



Series: Survivors Trilogy [1]
Category: Five Nights at Freddy's
Genre: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, All the main characters are OCs, Angst, Character Death, Child Death, Childhood Trauma, Coming back from the dead, Death, F/F, F/M, Foster Care, Found Family, Gen, M/M, Minor Character Death, Multi, Murder, Orphans, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Queer Character, Queer Themes, Spin the Bottle, This is an Oc Fic, Trans Female Character, Underage Drinking, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-17
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:14:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 14
Words: 37,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25950445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pheonix_Inside/pseuds/Pheonix_Inside
Summary: Mari could barely remember her sixth birthday party, and she honestly wasn't sure she wanted to. But she definitely knew what happened at the end. She'd been led to another room, and killed.When she woke up a few days later, in an unfamiliar room surrounded by unfamiliar people, very alive, she took it in stride. The fact that she was six years old and hadn't really realized she'd died definitely made it easier.When she was reminded of what happened, she also realized that she'd probably never escape Freddy Fazbear's, but at least she wasn't alone in this fight. Follow Mari and her new companions as they grow up, dealing with both Freddy's related issues as well as the average - and not average - issues a kid, a teen, a young adult would face.
Relationships: Original Female Character(s)/Original Female Character(s), Original Female Character(s)/Original Male Character(s)
Series: Survivors Trilogy [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1883440
Comments: 7
Kudos: 8





	1. Nightmare

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings are put with each chapter.
> 
> Beta-read by [sometimeswritingsometimesdying ](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sometimeswritingsometimesdying).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning(s): nightmare/flashback(?) mention, lying, descriptions of injuries (cuts, but not due to self harm), anxiety attack, descriptions of pain, scars, insomnia (sorta?), a character feeling compelled to do something, a character remembering trauma, panic, screaming, a character being unable to move, talk of murder & death
> 
> The song this chapter is named for is Nightmare by NateWantsToBattle

Mari screamed.

She shot up in bed, her face wet from tears. She sobbed, struggling to catch her breath as the memories of that horrid dream flashed through her mind. Her heart was pounding, she could feel it in her chest, and she gripped at her sides.

Turning quickly when she heard footsteps quickly approaching, Mari saw Liz, her guardian, open the door, entering quickly when she saw Mari crying. Behind her was Mari's sister, Mika, who looked just as spooked as Mari was.

Liz kneeled next to Mari's bed, a concerned expression on her face and her arms open, if Mari wanted a hug. That she did, and she delved into Liz's arms as soon as possible.

"What happened, sweetie?" Liz asked, petting Mari's hair. Mari felt the bed dip, and felt her sister's hand on her shoulder, an attempt to comfort her.

Mari sniffled. "I- I had a- I had a dream abou- about what happened." She said, hiccuping and sobbing throughout the statement.

Liz hummed, moving away from Mari so that the two of them could make eye contact, but she kept a hand on Mari's shoulder, the other playing with her hair in a way she knew comforted the seven year old.

"It's all over, now." Liz said, "Everything is okay. You're safe."

Mari nodded, but she didn't know if she could completely believe Liz. She tried her best to ignore the knowledge that nobody knew what would happen, and that nobody knew if _it_ would happen again, or when. She decided to at least try to find comfort in the empty words.

Either Liz saw through her or thought that Mari still needed comfort, because she kept going. "What happened wasn't okay, but it happened, and I promise it won't happen again."

Mari nodded, hugging Liz again.

"Okay." She said. And she actually believed her.

If she'd even remembered this moment in the future, she would've laughed at that.

-

A year before, Mari had woken up, confused and disoriented. She wasn't in her bed, but she was in _a_ bed. She wasn't at Freddy's. She wasn't at home.

And she wasn't alone.

It took her a second to open her eyes, wondering what happened and feeling weird pains around her body. Like she'd scraped her knee, but rather than a blotch on her knee the scrapes were small, precise lines on her arms and legs and even on her neck, the same on each side as if they mirrored one another.

She took in a breath, suddenly feeling like she hadn't breathed in years.

She had no clue what was happening.

And for a six year old who couldn't remember what had happened within the last few days and who just wanted her mom, that was terrifying.

She looked around the room. There were five other people. They seemed to be talking in hushed whispers, and based on their solemn tone, it was something important.

She sat up more from where she was laying (now realizing she wasn't lying on a bed, but a couch), and the shuffling caught the attention of one of the people there. He had dark hair and fair skin, a few freckles on his face. He wore a green sweater and a white collared shirt underneath.

As he looked over at her, the rest of the group seemed to catch on, and soon she was being looked at by five different people.

One of these people walked over to her, she had fair skin and long brown hair, with round glasses on her face. She looked nice enough, but she was a stranger, and with what had happened the last time she'd been approached by a stranger, Mari was afraid.

What had even happened the last time she'd been approached by a stranger?

The woman sat next to Mari's leg, and looked at her the way adults did when they had bad news.

"Hey." She said, sounding almost like a person trying to calm down a scared pet.

"Hi." Mari responded, her voice coming out in a scratchy whisper.

"How are you doing, sweetie?" She asked.

Mari shrugged, not sure how to respond.

"What's the last thing you can remember?"

Mari wracked her brain to find an answer to that. There were easy things to remember, like how she'd been at her birthday party.

But what had happened to bring her here?

She squeezed her eyes shut for a minute, thinking, when it clicked.

"I... I remember walking into a room, and someone was there. He ran at me... I don't know what happened after." Mari's voice got tight as she finished her statement, and she gasped for air, tears welling up in her eyes.

The woman's expression morphed into that of sympathy, and though Mari couldn't quite tell, empathy as well.

"What's your name, honey?" She asked.

Mari fought down a sob, gasping again as the tears fell.

"M-Mari- Mariana." She said thickly.

The woman put a hand out, before she quickly retracted it, seeming to think.

"Can I touch you, Mariana?" She asked.

Mari nodded, and the woman put a hand on her arm, rubbing it in an attempt at comfort.

"My name is Val."

"It's- It's nice to m-meet you." Mari replied, parroting what her parents had always told her to say when meeting a new person. Where were her parents?

"Do you remember anything else, Mari?"

Mari inhaled sharply as the pain around her body doubled, focused in small, but deep lines in her arms, legs, neck, and torso.

She doubled over, letting out a sob.

Val's posture straightened. "What's wrong?" She asked, panic clear in her voice.

"It hu-urts." Mari squeaked out, instinctively reaching for a specific spot on her arms that hurt. She was met with a rough surface, and she turned to look at it.

They were bandages.

"I'm sorry, Mari. We did our best to clean them but it might hurt." Val said.

"Are they because of what happened? Are they because of- because of who was in the room with me?" Mari asked.

Val looked over at the rest of the group, and received a nod from a woman with light brown hair in a low ponytail, and fair, freckled skin. She wore a blue t-shirt and some jeans. Was she the leader of whatever group this was?

Val turned back to Mari, and she sighed. "Yes, they are because of him."

"Why?" Mari asked.

Val shook her head, looking down, muttering "I can't do this."

"I'm sorry." Mari said, immediately feeling bad.

Val's head shot back up, looking almost upset. "No, don't be sorry. I just don't know why, or how to explain it. It's complicated."

Mari sniffled, "Okay."

The rest of the group walked up to where they sat, and seemed to sit down around the area.

Mari observed them all.

There was Val, there was the guy who'd noticed her before, there was the lady who Mari thought was the leader.

There were two other people. One of them was a guy with blonde hair, and fair skin. He had square glasses and wore a white tank top.

The other person, Mari couldn't tell if they were a woman or a man. She guessed a woman, but she still wasn't sure. They had curly hair that wasn't long but not super short. They had dark skin, and some freckles. They wore a blue v-neck shirt under a pink sweater.

Something Mari could see that they all had were marks. They all had the same marks, two identical ones on the sides of their necks. The ones who had their arms revealed had scars on their biceps, again in identical spots, as well as around their forearms, almost at their elbows, and their wrists. All of these areas were currently covered in bandages along Mari's own body, alongside some areas on her legs and her stomach.

She wondered if whatever had happened to her had happened to this group, too.

-

In the end the group split ways, the five people there taking at least one of the kids. There were apparently more than Mari, five other kids.

Two of them were siblings, so the blonde man, named Chris, took both. Val took a boy with red hair who seemed a bit familiar. The man who'd noticed Mari, named Henry, took an asian girl (Mari, as a six year old, didn't really know a lot about other cultures besides her own, so that was really just her best guess) who had dark brown hair. The one who Mari couldn't tell the gender of - who was named Francis and was referred to as "they" or "them" by the rest of the group, to Mari's confusion - took a young black boy, who had been in Mari's kindergarten class, named Andy. He was nice, though Mari hadn't really spoken to him much.

Mari was taken by the woman who she'd thought was the leader, named Liz.

Somehow, the group had found Mika, Mari's sister, as well. Mari was glad to be with some of her family, but she was still confused. Mika seemed to be confused too, but based on how she acted, she hadn't been kidnapped or anything, so it seemed okay.

As they'd driven away from the house that the group had been in, that Mari had woken up from, Liz spoke to Mari and Mika from the backseat.

"I've adopted the both of you, and nobody can know your actual names, okay?" She said.

Mari nodded. "Okay." Mika said.

"Mari, your new name is Ava Ashton, okay?"

"Okay."

"Mika, your new name is Melina Ashton, okay?"

"Okay."

It was quiet for a bit.

"Why?" Mari asked.

"We want to keep you safe." Liz said, "I know you can't completely remember what happened at your party, but someone very dangerous now knows who you are. These new names are to keep you safe from him, and safe from some other things that I don't know how to explain."

Mari nodded, "Okay."

She touched the side of her neck, where her skin was slightly more rough. It was now just a scab, and was almost completely healed. It would definitely scar, or that was what Francis told Mari.

"Okay."

-

A nine year old Mari awoke with a start, more confused than afraid. She'd been in the middle of a dreamless sleep, comfortable and warm. Now she was laying in her bed, staring at the ceiling, confused.

She lied there, bored, as she twiddled her thumbs and repeatedly made quiet "tch" sounds. Her thumbs froze where they were, her eyes widening as she suddenly felt the urge to get up.

This wasn't the same as getting restless, she'd gotten restless before. This felt almost like she was being called, somewhere in the back of her mind. Someone or something was calling her name, but not literally. Somehow that didn't make a difference, it left her still wanting to turn her head in its direction and follow it, shouting "huh?" in hopes of finding what it wanted.

So she got out of bed. She regretted it as soon as she did, her vision beginning to swim until all she saw was white light, her body lurching forward. She stumbled, and when she hit the ground, she felt cold tile rather than the hardwood floors of her bedroom. Looking beneath her, she saw a black and white checkerboard pattern.

She jumped backwards, landing on her butt as she looked around. She wasn't in her room anymore. She was _there_. Her eyes widened as her breathing picked up, clutching at the front of her shirt like a lifeline. She closed her eyes, and took a deep breath, trying to relax her shoulders as she counted in her head, breathing in for a specific amount of time, holding for some time, before exhaling for some time. It was a trick Liz had taught her.

Opening her eyes once her heart rate slowed and breathing got back under control, Mari looked around again, feeling the ground beneath her.

Yep, she was definitely there. This wasn't a dream, or a hallucination, or her imagination. This was real.

She stood up, walking down the dark hall.

Yep, this was Freddy Fazbear's. The old pizzeria had closed three years ago, and it seemed exactly as it had been before it closed, when the darkness and the fact that it was empty was disregarded.

She heard footsteps coming down the corner, and immediately her heart rate spiked again. She looked around, taking another deep breath, and ran to one of the walls, an attempt to be harder to spot.

Turning around the corner was a boy, no older than she was. He had brown hair and tan skin, and wore a pair of glasses. His hair was a mess, and he seemed to be in a pair of pajamas with superhero patterns on them. He seemed oddly familiar, but Mari couldn't put a finger on it.

Mari stepped from her - rather bad - hiding place, catching the attention of the boy, who jumped.

"Who are you?" He nearly yelled, "How did you get there?"

"I'm Ava." Mari said, taking a step towards the boy. He took a step away from her, and she grimaced. "I'm not gonna hurt you. I don't know how I got here. Do you know how _you_ got here?"

He shrugged, nervously stepping towards Mari. "I don't know. I woke up and then I had to get out of bed so I did and now I'm here."

"Same with me." Mari said, "Do you think anyone else is here?"

"Oh, definitely." The boy said, "My brother is here, I think. Based on how we both were awake."

Mari nodded, "That makes sense."

The boy turned to her, holding a hand out. "I'm Will. Will Hansen."

"Ava Ashton, it's nice to meet you." Mari said, taking his hand and shaking it.

"Okay, maybe we should go look around." Will said, "In case there's somebody else here."

So the two walked side by side. They didn't say much, but they did discover that they were both nine and both adopted, and that they both had siblings. Though Will had a twin brother and Mari had an older sister.

As they rounded a corner around what Mari could recognize as the security guard's office - her dad had worked there - Will practically jumped into the room, immediately dropping down to his knees, looking underneath the desk.

"What the- Jack?!" Another voice exclaimed, from underneath the desk. Will shushed them, and whispered something. Mari hummed, because he wasn't exactly quiet and she could still hear it, but it was obvious that she wasn't supposed to.

Will stood up, moving out of the way of the desk, and out crawled another boy. He looked similar to Will - his hair was darker and more curly, and his skin was a little lighter - though they weren't identical. Mari had a hunch that was that brother Will had mentioned before.

The boy looked at Mari. He wore pajamas that seemed to have a jungle theme, with multiple animals on them and leaf designs.

"Hi." He said.

"Hi." Mari replied.

' _How smart._ ' Mari thought.

"I'm Ava." Mari said, "You?"

"M- I, uh, I'm Fred." Will's brother replied.

He was oddly familiar too. Mari was confused. Had she met these siblings before?

"I'm gonna guess you're brothers?" Mari asked, pointing at Fred and then pointing at Will.

"Huh?" Fred looked at Will, then Mari, before nodding, "Oh, yeah. We are-"

"Um, is someone there?" A voice interrupted from down the hall.

The three kids looked at the source of the voice, in various states of fear or surprise, where two other kids stood.

One of them was a boy, with dark skin and black hair - ' _Andy from kindergarten._ ' Mari's mind provided a name to the face - and an asian girl with dark brown hair.

Woah, déjà vu. Why were all these kids familiar?

"Just some nine year olds." Fred said hesitantly.

The other two kids at the end of the hall walked to them.

"What are you doing here?" Asked the girl.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Mari countered.

The boy shrugged and the girl made a face that basically said "I don't know," though faces couldn't actually talk.

"Us too." Will said.

"What are your names?" Mari asked.

"Isabella." The girl said bluntly, her chest puffed out.

"Damien." Andy mumbled.

Mari blinked, before furrowing her eyebrows.

That was weird. She'd thought he was Andy. Maybe she'd just been mistaken.

But she could've sworn that was Andy.

Whatever.

"I'm Ava." Mari said.

If she didn't know any better, Mari would've thought that she saw Andy- Damien's widen in surprise, similar to how she'd reacted to his introduction.

"Will."

"Fred."

"It's nice to meet you." Isabella said.

"You too." Mari said.

"You don't think there's anyone else here?" Damien asked anxiously.

Mari shrugged, when she suddenly heard echoing footsteps from the end of the hall. The rest of the group heard it, and they all turned to the source of the sound.

There was nothing there.

But there were still footsteps, though they sounded like they were from farther away.

Someone was _running_.

From what, the group didn't know. Mari wasn't sure if she wanted to know.

So of course, what did the group do but go to the end of the hall and look to the source of the footsteps? Mari noticed that it seemed like she and Isabella were the more eager ones, while Damien just kinda clinged to Isabella and the twins trailed behind.

It was another kid, probably around the same age as the group based on height. The kid's hair was short, though it seemed to be in need of a trim, and it was the color of rust.

"Are you okay?" Fred asked.

The kid running stopped, and the rest of the group all looked at Fred. What was he doing? How did they know the kid wasn't dangerous? What if-

The kid turned to face them - a boy, Mari officially figured out - and he looked scared. He had fair skin that was covered in freckles and he wore a simple red t-shirt and gray sweatpants. At the realization that the group was just a bunch of kids, he seemed to relax a bit, though he was still tense.

"Who are you?" He asked.

The group was quiet, and Isabella sighed, stepping forward. Damien reached for her arm, which he'd been holding onto previously, and she swatted at him, looking exasperated.

"I'm Isabella." She said, before she gestured to the other kids, "Other than the kid I was just next to, I know nobody here."

She stepped towards the boy. "We're not dangerous."

She looked behind her, back where the group was, before shrugging. "Or, I'm not."

"Okay." The boy said, "I figured. You're all just kids anyway."

"So are you. There is no way you're older than ten." Damien said, stepping forward, seeming anxious.

The other boy looked down a bit, and it was obvious he was repressing a smile, albeit an embarrassed one. "I'm nine, actually."

"I mean, so am I." Mari said.

The boy looked at her, and Mari couldn't help but notice his eyes. One eye was blue, and the other was a golden brown, nearly yellow looking. Mari didn't even know people could have eyes like that.

"I, uh, I am too." Will said.

"Anybody here who isn't nine?" Fred asked.

Nobody said anything. Isabella snickered, and the boy smiled, an eyebrow raised. Mari decided she liked that expression.

"Well, that's a coincidence." The - still not introduced - boy said, "I don't know if I should think it's comforting or be afraid."

"What's your name?" Mari asked.

"I'm Matthew." The boy, Matthew, said, "You can call me Matt though, if you want to. I don't care."

"I'm Isabella."

"Damien."

"Fred."

"Will."

Matt turned to Mari.

"I'm Ava." She said.

"Nice to meet you all."

"So why do you think we're here-" Isabella's statement was cut short. By what, Mari wasn't sure, but as Isabella cut herself off Mari felt a similar tug to what had caused her to get out of bed. She guessed everyone else felt it too, based on how they all began looking around.

The group suddenly dispersed, some running in what Mari had a hunch was the source of their call. Mari walked quickly, but she was afraid to run. As she went down the halls she recognized her path. She was heading to the prize corner.

As she entered the room, she felt a wave of nostalgia.

She remembered being a little kid, who'd excitedly run into this room and watch the Puppet sing their songs. She remembered getting prizes, and having what was basically a collection of the Fazbear toys.

She wondered what happened to them. Hopefully her parents hadn't given them away after her disappearance. She hoped her parents were okay.

She remembered hiding behind the Puppet's box when it was time to go, not wanting to leave. She remembered sneaking off during her sixth birthday party, and hiding in the prize corner, overwhelmed by the crowd. She remembered another animatronic entering, one she didn't recognize. She remembered her curiosity getting the better of her, following the animatronic down the hall it took her and then going into that room where it turned out to be a man in a suit who-

Mari shook her head, her hair flipping around from where it'd rested around her shoulders. This wasn't the time to think about that. What was past was past. Liz had told her that.

Mari turned around a corner, and there it was. The prize corner. The gift box was there, the counter, there were even still some toys on the shelves. Mari didn't dare touch them.

She bee-lined it for the gift box, feeling the call from there. She opened it, and the next thing she knew, she'd climbed inside.

Right next to her was the Puppet, limp and lifeless. Mari was terrified, but the idea of leaving never crossed her mind.

And then suddenly a bright light filled Mari's vision.

It was white, and Mari felt like every part of her body that it touched - which was all of her - burned. She tried to scream, but no sound came out.

It was 12:00 AM.

Why did Mari know that?

Many thoughts ran through her head at once, but the first one that she could understand was _pain. It hurts it hurts it hurts ow ow ow ow sOMEBODY HELP-_

Mary tried to scream again. Instead of no sound coming out, she heard static, and based on how it felt she knew the sound came from her.

_What's happening what's going on what what what what what help help help help help-_

Mari tried to inhale, but it felt like her lungs were being compressed. She felt like she was being squeezed tightly, yet like she was being stretched at the same time. It burned, and it pinched, and in those scars of hers that Liz said were remains from what happened - except for the gash on her chest, which hurt the way the rest of her skin did - she felt like she was being stabbed.

It was unbearable, it hurt, it hurt it hurt it hurt it hurt. When would it stop, why couldn't it stop, stop stop stop stop stop-

And then it was over.

Mari tried to catch her breath, hyperventilating as she sobbed. She tried to scream again, her voice coming out normally, if a bit rough, as if she'd been screaming before.

She no longer felt any pain, but the ghosts of the pains remained.

She sucked in a breath, and opened her eyes, which had been shut tightly. She was still inside the music box. She rubbed the sides of her arms, where phantom pains of what had felt like stabs over her own scars remained, only to feel what felt like plastic.

Wait, plastic?

Mari held her hands up to where she could see them, only to be met with dark, plastic hands connected to long, spindly fingers. Holding her hands higher, she saw that her arms were covered in black in white stripes. Moving her gaze up her arm, the stripes ended after her forearm, to simply black - still plastic.

She reached up to her face, feeling her cold, plastic fingers on her face, and she felt plastic under her hands as well, though he felt a bit warmer and oddly like skin at the same time. She squeezed her eyes shut, confused, and felt the skin - skin? She wasn't sure what it was - move under her hands.

She felt for her scalp, to be met with hair. She slipped her hand down, following her hair, and it stopped at it's usual length. She held a clump of strands up so she could see it.

It was _white_.

Not her usual brown, not even black, which would be more normal. No, white.

Mari looked around her, observing her surroundings. She was still in the music box. But where was the Puppet?

Almost like a lightbulb blinking, Mari realized.

_Was she the Puppet? Had she merged with the Puppet?_

She pushed the top of the music box up, standing up, before climbing back out. She felt taller, but she wasn't _that_ much taller. Maybe just a few inches, no more than than.

She walked across the floor, feeling the cold tile like it was against her bare feet - even though, looking down, her feet were the same black plastic as the rest of her body. She stepped out of the prize corner, out into the hallway, where she heard a scream.

She ran to the source of the scream, where she saw the entrance to the stage area. Where Freddy, Bonnie, and Chica stayed. There, in the places of Freddy, Bonnie, and Chica, were - who Mari guessed to be - Will, Damien, and Isabella.

It seemed that Isabella was the source of the scream, based on her terrified expression and the hands held in front of her, as if to protect herself.

"Bella! It's me! It's Damien!" Damien exclaimed. Isabella seemed to calm down a bit, but she was obviously still worked up. Will was staring at his hands, definitely shaken.

The kids in front of Mari didn't look the same as they had before.

Will's dark brown hair was now a lighter shade, one similar to Freddy's fur. He had on a black top hat, a dark brown vest over a lighter brown dress shirt with a black bowtie and black dress pants. His eyes glowed, and up close, they were blue - though Mari wouldn't know that until later. He had two robotic brown bear ears on the sides of his head - Freddy.

Damien now had purple hair, his eyes glowing - red, Mari would later notice. He wore a purple dress shirt with a red bowtie under a black vest with black dress pants. He had two robotic purple bunny ears on the sides of his head - Bonnie.

Isabella now had yellow hair. Mari would call it blonde, but it was very yellow. Maybe it was golden. Her eyes glowed - pink. She didn't have anything on her head, not a hat or ears, and she wore a white t-shirt, with Chica's signature "Let's Eat!" on it, with a pair of yellow pants - Chica.

But one thing that seemed off to Mari was that all three kids on that stage, regardless of who they seemed to resemble, had thick, purple tear tracks running down their faces. Their skin seemed to have a metal sheen to it, based on how the light reflected off of it. Mari had a hunch that hers was similar.

She stepped into the room, nearly tripping over a fallen party hat, which immediately got the attention of the other children. Mari's blood ran cold when their eyes - now on her - turned from their glowing, but otherwise normal eyes to dark pits, with only glowing white pinpricks as pupils.

"What the heck are you?" Will asked, and Mari couldn't help but shiver, practically feeling it in her bones - if they were still there, she didn't know - as he spoke.

"It's me! Ava!" Mari said.

"Why do you look so different?" Damien asked, "The rest of us changed for sure, but you don't even look like yourself."

I don't know. It seems like we're all connected with the characters here or something." Mari said with a nervous shrug, "I seem like the Puppet. Maybe because the Puppet looks more like a human I got more traits? I don't know."

She heard a clamor behind her, and Mari turned around, only to see Matthew. Or, what she guessed was Matthew.

His red hair was a much brighter, more saturated shade of red. His blue eye, which was on his left, was now a glowing yellow. His other eye, the brown one, was covered by an eye patch. He had red ears - Foxy's. He wore a dark red dress shirt under a black coat, like a cliche pirate. He had brown pants on. His right hand was replaced by a silver hook - Foxy.

He, like the other children, had purple teartracks and a metal sheen to his skin.

"What-" Matthew started.

"I don't know, don't ask." Mari said, getting increasingly panicked as she started to think about what had happened.

Yet another scream echoed through the hall, and Mari - as well as everyone else - quickly turned to the sound. She tried not to shudder at the sight of Matthew's eyes, the same as the eyes of the other three when they'd first noticed her.

And then Will was zooming past her. Mari's eyes widened, and then she quickly ran to follow him, confused.

"Fred!" Will called out.

"Will!" Yelled back Fred, sounding slurred, from another hall. Fred ran in the direction of his voice, and Mari followed. She heard footsteps behind her, and she guessed that it was one of the other kids. She hoped it was.

They turned down a corner and were met with a door, slightly ajar, labeled Parts and Service. Will pushed the door open more, and ran in.

There, in a corner, sat Fred, sitting limply and looking terrified.

His hair was a yellow color. Not the same as Isabella's, as it was more grey-ish, and he wore a black top hat. He had ears - which looked like Freddy's - but they were yellow. His eyes were the same black with pinpricks as the other kids when they were tense. He wore a yellow dress shirt with a black bow tie underneath a black vest, along with black dress pants. He had the same purple tear tracks, and the same metal sheen to his skin. Freddy, like Will, but yellow? Golden? Some sort of shade, Mari didn't recognize him.

And Fred looked absolutely terrified.

Will ran up to him, falling to his knees and grabbing his shoulder urgently.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

Mari saw Matthew stop next to her in her peripheral vision, and based on the fact that two more sets of footsteps stopped behind her, she assumed Damien and Isabella were behind her.

Will seemed frantic, looking for any sort of injury on Fred. Fred whimpered.

"I can't move..." He slurred, his statement barely understandable.

"Why, what happened?!"

"I don't know."

Fred sobbed, hiccuping as his body jolted, nearly falling on his side. Luckily he didn't because Will caught him.

Mari took a step forward, and then another, and then she gave up on getting there slowly and just walked to where the twins were, sitting down next to Will.

Within a few moments, she was joined by Isabella, then Damien, then Matthew.

And the six of them all sat there, talking and trying to figure out what was going on, for the remainder of the time they were there.

-

The night ended at 6:00 AM, and Mari wasn't sure why she knew that.

But right before 6:00 AM hit, Mari and the group separated, feeling the pull from the beginning of the night. And then there was a repeat of the terrible, painful experience of whatever transformation that had changed their appearance, but Mari could barely remember it in the exhausted haze she was now in.

And then the next thing Mari knew, she was back at home, standing in her room, right in front of her bed.

She climbed into bed, in shock and unsure of if what had happened was a dream or not. She lied there, staring at the wall as she fell asleep, wondering what had happened.

She ended up waking up at 7, the time she usually woke up for school, and she oddly felt as she normally did, as if she'd slept through the night with no issue. Mari was confused, and she guessed that it was a dream. It had to be, if she felt well rested.

There couldn't be another explanation.

Right?

-

Mari was at her usual area at recess, climbing on the monkey bars that nobody else in the fourth grade dared to climb. Most of the other kids were playing tag in the field off of the playground, or playing games on the basketball court, and the younger kids weren't allowed on the monkey bars. A few kids in Mari's grade (which was fourth) as well as some fifth graders came by and took a climb on the monkey bars, but none stayed for long.

Mari climbed up the pole attached to the monkey bars, sitting on the closest bar and inching down to the middle until she sat up high, at risk of falling if she slipped through the hole between bars or off of them. But she knew she wouldn't fall, she'd done this enough times to know that.

"Ava?"

"Yeah?" Mari turned to the person who said her "name," expecting some kid from her class asking to have a go on the bars.

But it wasn't some kid in her class. It was Matthew.

Mari's eyes widened, and she grasped one of the bars on either side of her before she swung forward, now hanging off of the bars normally, and then letting go, falling the few inches that remained between her and the ground. She turned around to face Matthew.

"Matt?" She asked. He nodded. "And here I thought it was just a dream."

Matthew chuckled, though there wasn't much humor behind it, "Yeah, me too."

The two stared at each other for a moment, before Mari looked down, rubbing the side of her wrist, where one of those scars from "what happened" were. Matthew seemed to notice this movement, and mirrored it. Mari looked up only to see identical scars where he held his wrist, his right hand covered in scars that, based on the shape, were the same as the ones on his wrists.

"I saw Will and Fred in the hall earlier." Matt said, "They're playing tag right now."

"Oh." Mari said, showing her extensive vocabulary, "Should we talk to them?"

Matt shrugged, "Probably."

"Do you even want to talk to them?"

Matt grimaced, and Mari nodded, understanding.

"I have nothing against them - they're cool." Matt said, "It's just..."

"What happened." They said at the same time.

It was quiet again, until Mari sighed, stepping forward. "Let's go talk to them. Maybe the other two are here, too."

Matt nodded, "Okay. I'll lead the way."

And that's how they ended up sitting off to the side, in a corner behind the school building that was right next to the basketball court and still able to be seen by the teachers.

"So, did anyone else feel like they'd slept a normal amount?" Will asked, "Because I know I didn't sleep a normal amount but I felt like I had."

"I did too." Mari said.

"Me too." Matthew said.

"Fred, are you okay?" Mari asked, interrupting the previous line of conversation, "I didn't see you as I left... however I did. How did you leave?"

"The same way we got there. As soon as I was... transformed back or... whatever you'd call it, I could move and walk as I pleased." Fred said.

"That's weird. But it also makes sense?" Matthew said.

"How does that even make any sense?" Will asked.

"I don't know, but it still sorta does." Mari said.

And then they faced another interruption to their conversation. Though, this interruption was a bit more wanted. (That is to say, the last interruption wasn't unwanted, just not wanted either.)

It was Damien. He walked out from underneath one of the jungle gyms, holding a book, when he spotted the group, and they spotted him. Somehow, even though they were far away, there was a spark of recognition between them.

And then he ran towards the court, but not in the direction of the group. Following the direction he was running in, the group saw Isabella playing what was most likely hopscotch. He got her attention, and then pointed to the rest of the group. Then the two made their way to the group.

"Hi." Was all Isabella said as she sat down among the group, Damien sitting next to her.

The group echoed back the greeting.

"So, why do you think what happened last night... happened?" Damien asked.

The group chorused variants of "I don't know," and Mari looked at the ground, thinking.

"Did you all have any sort of... traumatic experience at Freddy's?" Matt asked, "One where you were led away by a new mascot and taken to another room where he... um... I don't wanna finish that sentence but did you experience that?"

Mari nodded, leaning forward, as the rest of the group slowly but surely all agreed.

"It was a golden rabbit, right?" Mari said, "Who led you away?"

"No, it was a bear." Came Damien's reply.

"I thought it was a rabbit."

"I remember a bear, like Freddy."

"Okay, whatever animal it was, it was actually a guy in a suit, who led us to another room and did... something." Matt said, "Did he... attack you? Or was that just me?"

The group chorused variants of "me too." Matt seemed to relax at that.

"When did it happen to you?" Mari asked.

"I don't remember the actual day, but I was five, I think."

"Me too."

"It happened to us at the same time."

"I was six."

Mari nodded. "It happened to me at my birthday party. I was six."

"Birthday party?" Damien asked.

"Yeah."

"I remember there being a birthday party the day it happened to me."

"Me too."

"Me three."

"Me four."

"I'm guessing we can just agree that we all went through it when there was a birthday party."

"Well, Freddy's hosted a lot of birthday parties." Will said.

"Do you remember what day it was?" Isabella asked Mari.

"Do you remember the day that what happened to you was?" Mari replied.

"I don't remember the actual day, but it was somewhere in February."

Mari's eyes widened. "My party was February twenty-first."

"That was the day what happened to me- um... Happened!" Matt exclaimed, pausing to figure out if his statement was grammatically correct.

"I can't really remember but I think me too." Isabella said.

"I think me too."

"Yeah, us too."

"I'm guessing your actual names aren't what you've said, then?" Mari asked.

The group was silent.

Eventually, Damien nodded, followed by the rest of the group agreeing.

"I guess we should introduce ourselves, _for real_ , seeing as we already know we were all probably murdered at Freddy's and are living second lives." Matt said.

"Okay, um... I'm Clarice." Isabella- Clarice said.

"I'm Andrew, call me Andy." Damien, actually Andy - Mari was right! - said.

"I'm Jackson, call me Jack." Will.

"I'm Michael. You can call me Mike if you want." Fred.

"Ha! Michael and Jackson." Mari said, "Like Michael Jackson!"

"Right, we definitely haven't thought of that." Mike bit back sarcastically.

"I'm Alex, short for Alexander." Matthew.

All that remained was Mari. "I'm Mariana, but call me Mari unless you're mad at me or something."

The group chorused variants of "it's nice to meet you."

"It feels so weird to introduce myself with my actual name." Andy said.

"Yeah, same here." Alex said.

"Wait, how'd you get your new names? I'm wondering something." Clarice said.

"I was told my new name by my guardian." Alex said.

"Us too."

"Me too."

"Me three, or, four?"

"I think we all know we went through the same thing."

"Well, not the exact same thing..."

"Oh, hush!" Clarice lightly shoved Andy, "You knew what I meant!"

Andy laughed, shoving Clarice back.

Mari hoped that she'd stay friends with this group. She had a hunch that she would.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can also find this fic on my Wattpad (same username as this) and my Tumblr (pheonix-inside)!  
> I'm very proud of my fic, so if y'all liked it then maybe leave kudos? Maybe comment? Please and thank you? It gives that Sweet Sweet Validation so y'know it helps. Anyways yeah thanks for reading!
> 
> Ok I'm going to bed now it's 3 am. I'll post the rest of the chapters that've been posted on my other social medias in the morning, but take this for now.


	2. Make This Puppet Proud

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning(s): anxiety attack, hiding feelings, corpse mention, murder mention, talk of ghosts and coming back from the dead, mention of going missing, lying, nightmare mention, not being able to save someone (in a dream), cursing, panic, a flashback, violence, child murder, asphyxiation, blood, a knife, death, a ghost, communicating with a ghost, talking about how to murder someone, talking about possession, scars
> 
> The song this chapter is named for is Make This Puppet Proud by Adam Hoek

Mari woke up, and instantly was filled with dread. She turned over, desperate to get back to sleep, but to no avail. She burrowed into her blankets to get warmer, maybe she was just too cold, but to no avail. She lifted an arm out from under her blankets, maybe she was too warm, but again, no avail.

She sighed, sitting up at the restless feeling she had, and getting out of bed. Next thing she knew, she was at Freddy's. Looking at the halls, at the floors, looking around, she felt a tight feeling in her chest, getting tighter and tighter the more she looked around.

It didn't take long for her to find the other kids, who'd been sitting in the lobby quietly. Mari guessed they already knew what was gonna happen and were okay with it.

_Oh god, was she the only one freaking out?_

Mari did her best to keep her breathing under control, to blink whenever her eyes felt teary, and to ignore the feeling like she was a ticking timer waiting to go off. What would happen when it went off? Mari didn't know.

Or she at least pretended not to. It was easier to avoid freaking out when she didn't acknowledge it was happening.

But then the urge came. And the group stood up, and parted ways, going their different routes. Mari felt bad for Mike, hoping he'd be able to move this time.

As Mari climbed into the music box, it felt like her body was on autopilot. As soon as she sat down within it, she felt like she couldn't move, paralyzed by anxiety. Her breathing quickened, and the tears she'd tried to hide fell. She started to sob, managing to get herself to move and wipe away some of her tears.

She hiccuped as she suddenly became aware of the time.

**12:00 AM**

The light overtook her vision again, and Mari held her breath, anticipating the same pain as the night before.

But it didn't come.

It was definitely uncomfortable, and Mari definitely wanted it to end sooner than later, but it wasn't painful.

She was still keyed up, but she no longer felt like she would explode. That was definitely an improvement.

Opening her eyes, which had been closed from the blinding light, Mari saw the inside of the music box. Holding her hand up, it was thin and plastic, just like the previous night. She lifted up the top of the music box and quickly got out, making her way to the stage where three out of the five other kids likely still were.

As she got there, Clarice was jumping off of the stage, Andy climbing down as fast as he could - likely to catch up with Clarice, Mari noted - and Jack was already off of the stage. The three of them looked over at Mari, their eyes not turning dark like they had before, and simply nodded in acknowledgement. What were they supposed to say?

The group started to make their way to the Parts and Service room, hoping that Mike would actually be able to move, and when they got to the door it was being pushed open by a shaky Mike.

Jack immediately rushed to hug him, relieved, and almost knocked the poor kid down. Luckily he didn't, but it took a moment for Mike to steady himself again.

"I'm already clumsy, now I have to deal with this?" He grumbled, much to the amusement and sympathy of the other children.

They found Alex pretty quick, rummaging around Pirate's Cove. He seemed to be looking underneath the stage, like there was something there. Maybe a closet or something?

Nonetheless, he quickly joined the rest of the group, and they relocated to the main stage area.

"Why do you think this happens?" Mike asked.

"We already know. It's because of what happened to us." Clarice responded.

"No, like, why is it happening? Obviously we know the sole cause but there _has_ to be something else causing this." Mike said, "I mean, why are we transforming into these characters, why the characters we each are specifically, what happened to make us even able to _do_ that? Is there any way to control it? Stuff like that."

"Those are actually good questions." Alex said. "I mean, the characters we are could be a coincidence."

"But it also might not be." Mari replied.

"Well, I don't know if there's a way to know if it is or not." Alex said, "It might just be a question we can't answer."

"Well, whether it matters what characters we are or not, why are we able to transform into _any_ of the characters?" Clarice asked.

"Well, my guardian, Val, told me that the guy who led us away stuffed us into the suits." Alex said, "So maybe that's why we are the characters we are and why we can even transform."

"Yeah, true. Or maybe our bodies were left near the animatronics?" Clarice suggested.

"Well, we were found outside by the police and then given to our guardians to be taken care of. It doesn't make a lot of sense for us to be left where it'd be easy to see us." Jack said.

"True."

Mari chuckled, "Am I the only one who finds it at least a little bit weird that we're talking about us being murdered like it's normal? I mean, how are we even alive right now?"

"Maybe we came back as ghosts." Mike said.

"If we're ghosts then why do we function like normal humans?" Alex asked.

"Good point. Maybe we were brought back?" Andy asked.

"How, though?" Mari wondered out loud, "How could we be brought back?"

"Maybe some people did some sort of ritual?"

"But how would they have even known we were dead?"

"Maybe some already dead people decided to bring us back from the afterlife?"

"But who would care enough to do that?"

"We're just talking in circles." Alex said, getting the attention of everyone else, "We need to like, write down these questions."

"Yeah, check them off as we answer them or something." Mari replied with a chuckle.

"Have you guys told your guardians about what happened?" Andy asked, "Because they should probably know, seeing as it seems like they already know a lot about what happened before."

"I haven't."

"Neither have I."

"I wanted to, but I forgot."

"I haven't, and I know Jack hasn't because Chris hasn't spoken to us about it."

"Who's Chris?"

"Our guardian."

Mari laughed. "Of course nobody's said anything. I mean, I don't blame you guys, who knows how they'll react."

"Well we gotta tell them eventually." Mike said, "One of these days one of them will come into our rooms, for whatever reason, and then see that we're not there."

"Or my sister will do something like that and then tell Liz." Mari mumbled.

"You have a sister?" Alex asked, curious.

"Yeah." Mari replied.

"Does she know about what happened?" Came Andy's question.

"No." Mari said, "Or she knows that something happened but doesn't know what."

"How did your guardian take her in, then?" Clarice asked.

Mari shrugged, "I don't know. She went missing too. But not at Freddy's."

"That's weird." Came Mike's addition.

"This whole thing is weird." Jack replied.

Mari laughed, "Isn't that true."

-

She ended up back home, the same way she'd gotten to Freddy's, and Mari wanted nothing more than to go to bed and sleep.

She was lucky that it was, technically, Saturday morning. She could sleep in more and wouldn't have to go to school, so she could talk to Liz.

When she woke up, it was about 10 am, and she felt well rested, if a bit drowsy.

Mika was still asleep, which made sense considering she was a teenager, and according to Liz, teenagers slept in more.

Mari walked out to the kitchen, where Liz was making herself some scrambled eggs. Mari stopped next to Liz, poking her arm.

"Hey, Mari." Liz said, "You want some eggs?"

Mari nodded, "Yes please."

Liz cracked another egg into the pan, and Mari knew she would make them just how she liked. After getting herself a glass of water, she sat down at the table, tapping at the faded wood awkwardly.

A few minutes later, Liz set a plate of eggs in front of Mari, accompanied by a piece of toast, before sitting down across from Mari.

"So, what's up? You look like something's up." Liz said. She could always read Mari easily, so it was no surprise that she noticed something being off.

"You're not going to believe me." Mari mumbled, moving her eggs around her plate with her fork.

Liz tilted her head to the side. "Try me."

Mari took a bite of eggs, before chasing it down with a sip of her water, stalling for time to figure out what to say. She didn't know what to say anyways.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." Liz said, "But if it is bothering you I can help."

Mari shook her head. "No, it's something you should know. I just don't know how to say it. It sounds crazy."

"Crazy is my middle name." Liz said with a lazy grin.

"I thought you didn't have a middle name."

"Hush, you know what I meant."

Mari nodded, smiling faintly.

"I went to Freddy's."

Liz's eyes widened, and she immediately sat up properly. "What?"

Mari looked away, and she saw Liz deflate a bit in her peripheral.

"It's gonna sound crazy, but the night before last night I woke up and I felt like... like I had to get out of bed, so I did, and then the next thing I knew I was at Freddy's." Mari rambled, staring at her plate, "There were some other kids there too, and I think the same thing happened to them. It happened again last night."

"...What?"

Mari cleared her throat. "I know it sounds crazy, but I promise you I'm not kidding."

"No, I believe you, I just..." Liz pushed some hair out of her face. "I just don't know how to react."

Mari nodded, "Yeah."

"Did anything else happen?"

Mari paused, looking at her plate, Liz, and her plate again. "No..."

"Don't lie to me about this sort of thing."

Mari sighed, "Okay, okay. We all turned into like, almost human versions of the characters."

"Really?" Liz asked.

Mari nodded, taking a bite of toast.

"Who did you become?"

"The Puppet." Mari said.

Liz nodded, before standing up. "I have to make a few phone calls."

Mari's stomach dropped, but she nodded. She continued to eat her breakfast, or as much as she could stomach, before going back to her room. She sat on her bed, reading a book, when there was a knock on the door. It was three loud, evenly spaced knocks, so that meant it was Liz.

"Come in." Mari called.

The door opened, and as Mari expected, in came Liz. She walked into the room, closing the door behind her and sitting next to Mari on the bed.

"What'cha reading?" Liz asked, even though she could easily see the cover of the book.

"Harry Potter." Mari said.

"Which one?"

"Prisoner of Azkaban."

"Where are you in the story?"

"I don't wanna spoil it for you."

"I read it as soon as it came out, you've got nothing to worry about."

"I'm at the part where the school is on lockdown." Mari said.

They were quiet at that, and Mari put her bookmark in, closing the book.

"I'm guessing you aren't here to talk about Harry Potter."

Liz nodded. "Yep."

Mari was quiet, waiting for whatever Liz had to say. She didn't know what to expect, but she doubted it'd be anything good.

"So, you've met Alex, Clarice, Andy, and the twins?" Liz asked.

Mari nodded.

"Well, I called their guardians." Liz said, "They're all my friends. I told them everything, and it seems that their kids told them a similar story. I believed you before, but now I do more, I guess."

"So... what's gonna happen?"

"Not much will change, unless you want it to." Liz said, "The only thing that'll change is that I'll wait up for you when you get back from Freddy's, and you'll probably see the other kids come over. We might even go over to _their_ houses."

"Okay." Mari said, "That's cool."

"I'm sorry if I scared you." Liz said, "Everything's okay."

"I know." Mari said.

"Okay, good. I just wanted to make sure."

-

It was a few months since everything at Freddy's had started, and at the moment, Mari had just woken up. She was staring at her ceiling, catching her bearings.

She felt the familiar rush of energy, and sat up, pushing off her blankets, when she heard a knock on the door. Two quick knocks, that were a bit on the quieter side, easier to miss if you weren't paying attention. Mika.

"Come in." Mari mumbled, mostly on instinct.

The door opened, and Mika stepped in.

"I had a nightmare." Mika said, "I just wanted to check on you I guess."

"Why? What happened in your nightmare?" Mari asked.

"Um, I don't remember it completely, but you were in danger and I couldn't save you. We were stuck in your room and there was somebody else there and they attacked you." She said, "I couldn't stop them. It freaked me out. I guess I wanted to reassure that you were there."

Mari got out of bed, hugging her sister. "That sucks, I'm fine."

"Uh, Mari?" She heard Mika ask, sounding somewhat hysterical, "Am I going crazy or are you glowing?"

Mari's eyes widened, and her vision was filled with that familiar brightness. "Shit."

Nearly a moment later, she was in Freddy's.

And so was Mika.

"What the- How did- Oh my god, I'm still dreaming, aren't I?! What the fuck?!" Mika exclaimed, looking around.

Mari shook her head, shushing her sister. "No! You're not dreaming, I'll explain in a minute, but it's about to get a lot more weird, so gimme a minute."

And then it was midnight.

"Mari, your eyes are black."

Mari barely processed what her sister said, rushing to get to the prize counter.

"What the-"

She heard footsteps behind her, Mika following her, but she barely processed it again.

She rushed into the music box, and she felt relaxed again, the need to get there leaving. The light came back, and when it died down she was in her Puppet form.

The top of the music box opened, and Mari looked up, seeing Mika staring back at her.

And Mika screamed.

Mari shot up, covering Mika's mouth. "Shut up! It's me, Mari!"

She heard footsteps a few feet away, behind Mika, but she didn't dare look. She already knew it was the other kids. Mika definitely heard them, though, her eyes widening in fear.

Mari moved her hand away, and Mika turned around, facing the other kids, freezing. Mari climbed out of the box, walking past her sister to the others.

"Who the heck is that?" Alex asked.

"It's my sister." Mari replied.

"What is she doing here?"  
"I don't know! As I was about to come here she came in and said... _something_ , I don't remember, and I hugged her, and then next thing I knew we were both here!"

"That's interesting. So we can transport people?"  
"Not time for being a scientist, Alex, we have a scared girl on our hands."

They all turned to Mika, who was still frozen and staring at them like they were crazy.

"Wait, Alex?" Mika asked, "Mari, who are these people? What happened to you? What on earth is going on?!"

"Okay, I can explain, just breathe." Mari said, "You're freaking out."

"Of course I'm freaking out!"

"Well try not to!"

"That's kind of hard to do!"

"Well at least breathe!"

Mika groaned, before taking a deep breath. "Okay, explain now, please?"

"This might take a while, so you might wanna sit down."

They told her the story from the beginning. Of course, they spared the gorey details, but they told her what happened, from getting killed to found and all that.

"So, you're all dead but came back?" Mika asked.

Mari nodded.

"How does that even work?"

"Hell if we know!" Alex exclaimed, before getting elbowed by Mari.

"How did you get here?" Mika asked.

"We weren't sure, we sorta blanked out, but you being able to get here how you did and having experienced it similar to how we did definitely makes it seem like we can teleport." Alex said.

"You sound like a nerd talking like that."  
"Well I am a nerd, so there really isn't a problem with that."  
"True."

"So, what do you do while you're here?" Mika asked.

-

Mari felt the familiar feeling of cold tile under her feet as she regained her senses, and she didn't stumble this time. She was getting the hang of this.

She headed to the prize counter, as she usually did, and climbed into the music box.

A few days ago had been her tenth birthday, and Liz and the rest of the adults had thrown her a small party, alongside her friends. It had been fun, and Mari was still happy about it, two days later.

She couldn't help but feel a bit uneasy being at Freddy's that night, considering it was the anniversary of _the_ party, of her - and the others' - death(s). But she shook away the odd feelings, climbing into the music box and humming to herself as she waited for the clock strike 12.

It became midnight, and Mari closed her eyes, to avoid being blinded by the bright white, as usual. She opened her eyes a few moments later, but she wasn't in the music box.

She was walking down a hall, away from the bathrooms, and she felt smaller. The building was alive, with noise coming from everywhere. The lights were on, and all of the decorations were there.

She was back at the party.

_What?_

She willed herself to run, but she could only keep walking.

In her peripheral, Mari saw a yellow figure standing in a hall. Her stomach dropped, but she still looked over in its direction, seeing a yellow rabbit. He waved her over, and she walked up to him, curious, although she was simultaneously screaming at herself to run.

Mari followed him down the hall, which got darker. She said something to him, but she didn't process it, too caught up in her panic. They turned a corner, and there was a door waiting for them, which the rabbit opened. Mari stepped in after he waved in the direction of the door, and he walked in after her, closing and locking the door behind him.

Mari wanted to cry, but she couldn't. It was like she was reliving it all.

Looking around the room, Mari suddenly felt two hands around her throat, pressing down. She struggled to breathe, struggling to get out of the rabbit's grip, but he was stronger than her.

He pushed her down to the ground, before walking away for a moment, where there was a table. He grabbed something off of the table, and Mari realized it was a knife with fear.

She stood up, catching her breath, and she tried to leave the room. But the door was locked, and she was too frantic to unlock it, just desperately wishing the knob would turn.

Suddenly, she felt her hair being pulled, and moved back with it, falling down to the ground again. The rabbit pressed down on her throat, taking away her breath again, and she screamed, though it was weak due to not having any air.

She felt herself getting dizzy, until feeling a - literal - stabbing pain in her chest, repeating over and over again as he stabbed her not once, not twice, but three times. She tried to scream, her awareness back in an instant.

The rabbit took the knife out of her chest, but didn't let her go. Tears ran down her face as she lost consciousness, attempting to scream one more time before everything felt light and heavy at the same time. She wasn't dead yet, but she was passed out, soon to be dead.

"Mari."

Her eyes opened, and she was surrounded by darkness. _Was she dead? No, she was not dead._

"Mari."

She looked around, trying to find the source of the voice, but there was only darkness.

The voice laughed, "You won't be able to see me, silly."

"Who are you?" Mari asked.

"A simple version of the story, I'm the first child who got killed at Freddy's."

"There were other kids?"

"There were actually eleven before you."

"Eleven?!"

"Yep. There were six in the seventies and five in the eighties."

"Are you alive?"

"No, I'm dead."

Mari blinked.

"How am I talking to you?"

"You're knocked out right now. I can reach you now because it's the day you died."

"Why am I alive?"

"I used some power to bring you back."

"You can do that?!"

"Yes, but most souls are unable to do it without being destroyed and ceasing to exist."

"Oh." Mari looked down, or at least where she thought was down. "So how could you bring me back while still being here now?"

"I have a lot of power. I died young, I was still a kid, and I have unfinished business." The voice said.

"What kind of unfinished business?"

"Business that I need _you_ to finish. I can't do it, seeing as I'm dead."

"What am I supposed to do?"

"Stop the killer from Freddy's. He wasn't the one who killed me, but the one who killed me died already."

"What's his name?"

"The one who killed me or the one you need to stop?"

"Both."

The voice sighed. "I was killed by William Afton. You were killed by Vincent Williams, who's dead as well but has been possessing bodies before he can fully pass on."

"How do I stop him?"

"Simple. Kill the body he's currently possessing and don't let him possess somebody else."

"But what if we can't find the body?"

"You can't let that happen. If he possesses one body for too long, he'll form a connection with either the body, or a person who's related to the body."

"How do you know so much about this?" Mari asked.

"I've watched it happen multiple times before." The voice said.

"Well how do we stop that from happening, if we can't kill the body?"

"Unless you can somehow make sure everybody who's blood related to the body has had some sort of interaction with a dead soul, there's no way to completely avoid it. It's better to just kill the body."

"But how do I?"

"How do you kill any normal human?"

Mari nodded, and then suddenly her sight was filled with a bright light. Blinking it away, she saw that was in the music box again.

She shakily climbed out of the box, before walking to the main dining room, where the group usually hung out.

By the time she got there, the rest of the group was there. She wasn't normally the last person there, but that night she couldn't bring herself to run to get there like she usually did.

The group turned to her when she entered, and they all looked shaken.

"Did you all relive..." She asked, and she trailed off as she received a solemn nod from Alex.

She let out a sob, before walking towards the group. They opened their arms to her, offering a group hug, and she accepted it. They all sat down where they were, in a huge group hug. If others cried too, they didn't acknowledge it, or even care.

-

Eventually, the end of the night came, and Mari was back home in her room before she knew it. But as she lied there, she couldn't fall asleep. The bedroom felt too big, and she felt too small, and she was far too aware of the scar on her chest to be comfortable.

She got out of bed quickly, making her way to Mika's room. Knocking on the door, it was opened pretty quickly, and Mari knew it was because Mika set an alarm to wake up when Mari returned, to check in on her, before going back to bed.

"You okay?" Mika asked.

Mari stared at her sister for a moment, before shaking her head as her face crumpled. Mika opened her arms, and Mari rushed into the hug as soon as she could.

"Do you wanna sleep in my room with me?" Mika whispered. Mari nodded, and the two pulled away from the hug, climbing into Mika's bed.

Mika pulled Mari into another hug, and Mari cried into her sister's arms. When there was a dip at the foot of the bed, Liz joining the two, Mari felt comfort.

Like Liz had told her so many times before, what had happened was over. She was okay now. She took a few deep breaths, and after a few minutes, she was asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so I'm gonna be posting this in bulk because on my other social medias, this fic has already been posted up to chapter 8, so sorry if I spam y'all with updates.


	3. Dream Your Dream

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning(s): bullying, gender roles being forced on somebody, cursing, somebody discovering they're trans and the following confusion and emotions that come with that, a derogatory term, two kids get into a physical fight, a teen parent is mentioned offhandedly
> 
> The song this chapter is named for is Dream Your Dream by TryHardNinja

Fifth grade had been a mixed bag for the group, so far. Clarice was getting good grades and making friends, Andy was mostly minding his own business, of course with Clarice. Mari was pretty okay, with average grades and hanging out with the group a lot. She and Alex had gotten closer, being in the same class. Alex was, as usual, a straight A student who all the teachers loved. Jack was doing fine, mostly hanging out in the background like Andy.

Then there was Mike.

He was happy enough, he supposed, but other kids were mean. And considering he was in a class without his brother or any of his friends, nobody was there to protect him. And he was too afraid to stand up for himself.

Huh... That didn't sound right. He wondered why.

He was, at the moment, walking to recess, in a line with the rest of the kids in his class. When he felt a tap on his shoulder, he felt a sense of dread. He turned his head to acknowledge whoever was behind him and trying to talk.

"Why do you have a girl's backpack?"

Mike stopped walking for a moment, but he continued walking again almost immediately.

"It's not- I... I have it because I like it." He said.

"But it's a girl's backpack. You're a dude, aren't you?" The boy asked.

 _Aren't you?_ He parroted in his head. _Yes, of course I am, shut up._

"Yeah... So what?"

"Well why do you have a girl's backpack if you're a guy?"

"Because I like it!"

The boy didn't say anything after that, and Mike felt a sinking sensation in his stomach.

 _I wish I was a girl._ He thought. _They wouldn't say this shit if I was. I don't want to be a boy, anyway. It's not fun._

As he got outside of the building, he walked to the area they put their backpacks (recess was right before dismissal, so they took their backpacks with them) and then went to where the group usually hung out.

Eventually, recess was over, and he walked back to get his backpack. Mari was there too, as she'd put her backpack around where his was.

He grabbed his backpack, slinging it over his shoulder, when he noticed a group of boys - which contained the boy from the hall from earlier - staring at him, mumbling to each other.

"What?" He asked them.

They just snickered.

"What's so funny?"

More snickering, until the boy from before stepped forward. "It's just weird that you have a girl backpack."

"I don't get why that's so weird. It's just a backpack."

"Yeah, but it's all pink and glittery. It's obviously a girl's backpack."

"But what's wrong with that."

"It's just weird."

"Hey, can you guys fuck off?" Mari asked from behind Mike, and he turned to see her glaring at the boys, "It's literally just a piece of cloth used to carry around books and shit. You guys are just jealous because you all have boring backpacks while he's not afraid of having a fun one."

Mike smiled at her, and she smiled back.

The boys walked away, grumbling among themselves.

"Thanks."

"No problem. They're assholes anyway."

The two walked to the bus loop, as they talked.

"Have those kids bothered you before?"

Mike shrugged. "The guy who was talking has said some stuff to me before, but nothing bad."

"Asshole." Mari grumbled.

"Is it weird?" Mike asked, "That I like girl stuff more than guy stuff?"

"No." Mari said, "And it's just stuff. What you like has nothing to do with gender."

"I guess." Mike paused. "If I was a girl they wouldn't do this, though."

He pretended not to notice the longing in his own voice, brushing it off as not wanting to be bullied.

That's what it was, right?

-

The time was 9:30 pm, and Mike was supposed to be going to sleep.

But he was lying awake in bed, staring at the ceiling, and trying not to cry.

He could stop thinking about what the boy had said, back in the hall.

"You're a dude, aren't you?"

And again, the question was raised, _wasn't he?_

He was.

Or, he thought he was.

But it didn't feel quite right. Or right at all, really, but it wasn't terrible. He didn't hate it. It just wasn't right.

But he wasn't like Francis. Francis was nonbinary, and they used they/them pronouns. Mike didn't want that.

He'd heard of transgender people before, but only in passing, and when he did hear things about them it was usually bad. As far as he knew, they were bad.

He wasn't bad.

Wasn't Francis transgender, though? They weren't bad.

But Francis had never ever said they were transgender. So maybe they weren't. So maybe it was actually a bad thing.

_Do other kids think about this sort of thing? Oh god, they don't, don't they?_

"I can practically hear you thinking." Jack said, sitting up in his bed and turning on the reading light on his bedside table. "What's up?"

Mike repeated the action, turning on his light, which was purple. Different from Jack's yellow lamp. Something the boys at school would call a "girl color."

It was quiet for a bit, Jack waiting for Mike to say something, as Mike stared at the blankets on his bed. They were blue, with superheroes on them. That wasn't a "girl thing."

"Are transgender people bad?" Was what he decided to blurt out.

Jack blinked, taken aback, but he didn't say "yes." He looked down for a moment, and Mike held his breath.

"No." Jack said, "I mean, Francis is trans, and I eavesdrop a lot on Chris when he's the phone with them."

"Wait, they are?"

"Yeah? They've said it before?"

"I never heard them ever say that."

"I guess I do eavesdrop a lot."

Mike laughed, "Yeah, you do."

"Why do you ask, by the way?" Jack asked, bringing the conversation back on track.

Mike stared at his blanket again.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." Jack quickly added.

"No, I want to tell you." Mike said, "It's more that I'm not even sure about it, and am still denying it."

"Are you trans?" Jack asked, "Or questioning?"

Mike suddenly felt his eyes sting. "Yes." He practically whispered.

"Are you trans like Francis?" Jack asked.

"No. I think I'm a girl."

Jack nodded. "Okay."

"I think that I want to use a different name."

"What name?"

"I think I wanna use our mom's name."

"Penelope?"

"Yeah, but that's a bit too fancy."

"You could use a nickname, if you want to use the name." Jack suggested.

"I do want to use the name."

"Well, what are nicknames for that name?"

"Penny?"

Jack nodded, "Yeah. That works. Do you want me to call you that?"

"Yeah." Penny - wow, did that sound better - smiled. "Yeah. I like it a lot."

It didn't completely feel right, either. But it felt a lot more right than "Mike, a boy," so for now, she would stick with it.

Now, there was the issue of telling people, and if she even wanted to.

-

The night had passed as usual, with the group going to Freddy's. Penny had asked Jack to call her by Mike and use he/him when around other people, as she didn't feel ready to tell the group, having only just realized and still not being entirely sure.

Now it was lunch time, and Penny was grabbing her backpack. After lunch, the class transferred from Ms. K's room to Ms. Smith's room.

As she grabbed it, the boy from the day before tugged on it, pulling Penny back. She turned around, facing him.

"What the fuck, dude?! Leave me alone!" She exclaimed.

"Language, Michael." She heard a teacher say a few feet away, but she ignored her.

"What are you gonna do about it?" The boy asked, "You're just a sissy!"

Penny pushed him, and he fell back onto one of the chairs attached to the lunch table. The kids around them all stepped away, but others stepped forward. They all kept their distance, but they watched.

The boy stood up, and pushed Penny back. She stumbled, but didn't fall backwards like he had.

It only escalated from there.

By the time the teachers pulled the two kids apart, Penny's arms had scratches on them (the boy trying to go for the backpack, apparently still not giving up), and a scrape on her forehead from being pushed into a chair, and the boy would definitely have some bruises later.

A principal's office visit and call home later, she sat in the backseat of Chris' car, she couldn't look at him, instead deciding to stare out the window.

"What happened?" Chris asked, "I don't trust those people to tell the full story."

Penny was quiet, and after a few moments, Chris sighed, looking at Penny in the rearview mirror.

"I'm not mad at you. I just want to know what happened." He said, "I promise."

Penny sighed, before she looked at him. "He harassed me about my backpack."

"What?"  
"For the last few days that kid harassed me about my backpack, because he said it's a girl's backpack."

If Penny wasn't imagining things, she could've sworn that Chris' grip on the steering wheel tightened.

"Who started the fight?"

"I pushed him first, but he called me a name so he's the one who provoked me."

"What'd he call you?"

"He said I was a 'sissy.'"

Chris hummed, but Penny could tell he was pretending to be calm. "He probably heard that from his parents."

Penny sighed. "Yeah."

"Is that all that happened?"

Penny nodded, "Yeah."

Chris nodded, and the two were quiet after.

Penny felt her eyes sting again, and didn't blink the tears away. Chris couldn't see her anyway, so it wasn't like he'd know she was crying.

She took a few breaths, trying her best to not sound like she was crying.

"What's up?" Chris asked, his voice softer.

"What do you mean?" Penny responded, cursing her voice for giving her away.

"You're crying."

Penny wiped at her eyes. "How could you tell?"

"You always breathe like that when you try to be quiet while crying."  
"Oh."

"So, what's up?"

Penny looked out the window, wiping at her eyes.

"He always bothered me for having a girl backpack." Penny said, "And I... I was thinking about how _I_ felt about it last night."

"And?"

"I think I might be a girl."

Chris didn't respond for a moment, and Penny tried not to overthink it.

"Okay." He said, "Do you want things to change?"

"Yes."

"Do you have another name, or are you still Michael?"

"Penny."

"Huh?"

"Call me Penny."

"Is that short for something?" Chris asked, his tone changing from a careful and serious to his more laid back tone, with a hint of amusement.

"Yeah, it's short for Penelope." Penny said, "It's my mom's name."

"That's a nice choice."

"Thanks."

-

Penny sighed, rubbing the sides of her arms awkwardly. She and Jack walked side by side, going to the spot the group usually hung out at recess.

"Y'know, you don't have to tell everyone yet if you don't want to." Jack said.

"Shut up, I want to tell them." Penny said, "I'm just nervous."

"Okay..."

They walked up to the group.

"Hey."

"'Sup."

"How ya' doing?"

"Hi."

At first the conversation was normal, and they were talking about their families from before the incident.

"Henry and I did some research the other day, and it turns out that my mom had me at seventeen." Clarice said, "She apparently came from a family with a number of teen moms in it."

"That's cool." Came Mari's response.

"Um... I have something to tell you." Penny blurted out all of a sudden.

"Okay, what is it?"

Penny looked down, and Jack pat her on the arm.

"So, I'm a girl."

The group was quiet, but nobody seemed disapproving, just confused at the most.

"It's like how Francis is nonbinary. Even though they are physically a guy or a girl, I don't know which one, they use they/them pronouns and are nonbinary." Penny explained, "But instead I'm a girl and use she/her pronouns even though I'm physically... a boy."

"Okay." Alex said, the first to speak.

"Do you want to be called another name?" Came Andy's question.

"Yeah. Call me Penny. It's short for Penelope." Penny said.

"Isn't that your mom's name?"

"Yeah."

The conversation went back to how the group normally talked, though of course the topic was Penny's new identity. Mostly clearing things up and making sure there was no room for misunderstandings.

This was good. Penny was still a bit unsure, it didn't feel completely perfectly right, but it definitely felt more right. And that was good with her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm posting up to chapter 8 all in bulk (as I've stated) but I'm like, scared that I'm forgetting to do something in the preparation or whatever the fuck you'd call it.
> 
> Also, a quick note I just thought to put, though it isn't in this chapter in any other platforms, but I just wanted to say I'm a cisgender teenage girl, so if I misrepresented anything or didn't portray it correctly with Penny's discovering she's trans, please tell me and tell me how to properly write it!


	4. Goodbye

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning(s): cursing, threatening violence (though it's not a real threat), play fighting, thirteen year olds dating, fighting (to train), an anxiety attack, sleep deprivation
> 
> The song this chapter is named for is Goodbye by TryHardNinja

Mari sighed, leaning on the bench she was sitting next to.

"Drama queen." Clarice muttered.

"Look, is it that bad to be unhappy that your crush likes somebody else?" Mari muttered back.

Clarice shrugged. "I guess not."

"I don't know, he's just cute." Alex said, not hearing the girls' separate conversation.

The group, all now thirteen years old and in eighth grade, sat in the courtyard of their school at lunch. Alex was talking about the latest cute boy he'd developed a crush on, while Mari sighed in the background, somehow not being noticed by him even though he knew almost everything about her by now.

"Okay, I hate to derail this, Alex, but I need to ask your opinion." Penny said, "Do you think I have a chance with Krystal?"

"Krystal?"

"Yeah, Krystal Thompson. Do you think I have a chance with her?" Penny asked.

Alex cocked his head to the side, "I mean, yeah, maybe. She's cute. I doubt she's straight, so you probably have a chance."

"She's probably got a crush on _you_ , to be honest." Jack piped in, talking to Alex.

"What?!"

"What? Are you crazy?"

Jack smirked, "No, I heard her talking to her friends and I swear to whatever God you believe in that your name came up. _Multiple times._ "

"How can I believe you though, mister petty gossip?" Penny asked, playfully shoving her brother.

He shoved her back. "How do you know you _can't_ believe me?" He placed a hand on his chest, "Would I ever lie to you?"

"Yes! You've told me blatant lies before just to fuck with me!"

The group laughed.

"Well, Alex, I think you should ask Caleb out." Clarice said.

Alex's eyes widened, his face turning a bit more red, to Mari's chagrin. She huffed, and she tried to ignore Penny smirking at her.

The conversation went back to Alex's crush, and Penny scooted back to sit next to Mari and Clarice.

" _Aw_ , is the baby jealous?" Penny asked mockingly.

Mari scowled at her. "I will scratch you."

"What, will you use your claws?" Penny asked, "Good luck explaining that to the nurse."

Mari lunged at Penny, and the two started shoving at each other. If it were not for their grins and laughter, people likely would've thought they were fighting.

"Fuck you, you asshole." Mari said, being shoved off of Penny with a grin.

"I'd say go for it, Alex." Clarice said, bringing back the topic again, "You never know if you don't try."

"But what if he's straight?"

"What if he isn't?"

"Oh, you're one to talk. You and Andy were destined to date from the start. It's no surprise you got together at thirteen."

Clarice rolled her eyes, looking off to the side.

"It's still worth a shot."

Alex laughed, "Yeah, probably. But I think I'll just... not."

"Whatever floats your boat."

-

It was 12 AM.

Everyone in the group knew that.

"Hey." They all quickly greeted one another, before rushing to where they usually went to transform, as they usually did.

Mari inhaled, feeling almost more comfortable in her animatronic form than her human form, stretching out once she left the music box.

She walked to the main room, where the rest of the group was already waiting. She had stopped trying to rush to get there long ago.

When she walked in to see the twins sparring - or, that's what they called it, not liking training or fighting - while Clarice and Andy sat on the stage and low-key flirted. Alex stood around, seeming to be waiting for something.

When Mari entered the room, the two made eye contact, smiling at each other.

"Wanna spar?" Alex asked.

Mari rolled her eyes at the word choice, but she couldn't think of a better word, so she supposed it was the best to use.

"Sure."

Alex smirked, getting into a fighting stance, and Mari mirrored him.

He dashed forward, and she, again, did the same. The two clashed together in the middle, and it became mostly a battle of who was strongest, who could hold the other back the most.

Mari summoned strings - a power she'd discovered back in sixth grade, in the middle of class, inconveniently - and held Alex's hooked hand. Alex, now with an arm literally tied behind his back, still continued fighting.

Mari slashed at him a few times, using her sharpened nails - claws? She didn't know - that came with her Puppet form, though she didn't actually touch him for real, just as a sort of practice.

Alex turned around, and she ended up slashing at the string holding back his arm by accident. She quickly jumped back before he could make a move.

"Smart." She said.

"Thanks." He replied, before trying to get back into the fight.

She teleported away from him, ending up behind him, where she slashed at him, before teleporting again. The others had struggled a bit to master teleportation, but Mari had mastered it pretty easily, and often used it to her advantage.

Alex snarled, trying to find a way to catch her.

She teleported behind him, but before she could make another move, he turned, his glowing golden eye locking onto her. He lunged in her direction, and before she could teleport away he grabbed onto her arm.

"Gotcha."

He pulled her back to the ground, as she'd been hovering a bit by accident (Mari could hover sometimes, something none of the others could do).

"Hi." He said, their faces only a few inches apart.

Mari tried to back up, to get the higher ground of the fight again and definitely not freaking out like any teenager with a crush would, but Alex's grip was firm.

He raised up his hooked hand, and swung it down at her, stopping at the last moment right before it would've slashed her in the face.

"I won, again."

She groaned, pushing him away. "Rematch. Now."

Alex grinned, getting back into position.

"Alright."

-

It was maybe three hours into the night, and the group had moved from their sparring to trying to help Jack figure out transforming. The rest of them had control of it now, but Jack was still struggling a bit.

They showed him how they did it, transforming out of their forms and then transforming back not long after - Freddy's had that effect. It was hard to stay out of their animatronic forms when there at night.

They explained how they did it, from Penny's imagining the transformation at once to Andy's focusing on each part of his body individually transforming.

Jack took a deep breath, his eyes closed, and suddenly his hair started shifting from it's usual brown to a more golden color. His clothing shifted, and when he opened his eyes, they were dark sockets with merely white pinpricks as pupils.

The group cheered, and pretty quickly they were all lying on the floor in a group hug that had accidentally fallen over, giggling.

As they laughed, they barely even noticed the tension that had been there every night leaving. They calmed down, untangling themselves from the giant pile of limbs, and tried to regain their breath.

"Woah." Penny nearly breathed out.

The rest of the group nodded, as they realized the feeling. They normally felt compelled to stay, but they didn't anymore. They normally felt like they had to stay transformed, but that need to stay was gone.

Penny was the first to transform back to normal, and considering she was one of the more sensitive to Freddy's effect on their physical form and wasn't itching to transform back, the rest of the group soon transformed afterwards.

"What do you think happened?" Andy asked.

"I don't know." Clarice said.

They all felt the sudden compulsion to go back home, and so with a quick goodbye they left.

Checking her alarm clock, Mari confirmed what she'd thought.

It was only 3:30 AM.

_Huh._

-

Mari woke up, feeling restless. But for the first time in four years, it wasn't the kind of restless where she couldn't resist it, where she had to get up. It was more a restless feeling like she was waiting for something.

That made sense, considering she usually went to Freddy's.

Mari sat up in bed, turning so her legs were hanging off of the bed. She stared at the hardwood floor, counting out the lines she could make out in the dark, which were most of them, considering she could see in the dark pretty well, she just couldn't make color that well and everything was a little bit fuzzy. But only a little bit. The perks of animatronic powers.

As she stared at the floor, she couldn't stop feeling like she should've been there by then, it was too late.

It was 12 AM.

Or at least, that's what her senses told her. She had no clue how true that was.

She refused to check the clock, knowing that it made anxiety related to sleeping or just time in general worse. Instead, she focused on her hands, playing with some pieces of string she summoned, something she now did whenever she needed to fidget.

Eventually, it became too much, and she checked the clock anyway. Her blood ran cold when she saw the time.

**12:26 AM**

_Fuck._

Her mind raced. What did this mean? Did something happen? Was something wrong? Was Freddy's being tampered with? Did something happen? Were the others in trouble? Did something happen? What was wrong? What happened? Did something happen? Did something happen? Did something happen did something happen did-

She took a deep breath, trying to do those breathing exercises Liz had taught her years ago. It was a lot harder than she remembered, and that was saying something, considering she'd almost had an anxiety attack - which she managed to calm down from using this technique - just a few days ago.

Oh god, what if this was a sign that something _really_ was wrong?

No, calm down. This was not a sign that something was wrong. She was just afraid and likely had grown attached to Freddy's. Breathe.

_In for four seconds, hold for seven, exhale for eight._

She did the exercise, trying to will her heartbeat to calm down.

_Good job. Do it again._

So she did. And she did it again. And again. And again. She did it repeatedly, until she was pretty much calmed down.

All of that was ruined when she saw the time.

**12:49 AM**

She started to hyperventilate, her breathing getting quicker as her mind ran. There were a number of questions, but the one that ran through her head the most was "Did something happen?"

Mari hunched over, hugging her sides and rocking back and forth, trying to get control of her breathing. She wasn't succeeding, and it just made her feel worse.

_Mari, breathe for fuck's sake._

She sobbed, and it was like opening the floodgates, because the next thing she knew she was ugly crying. Though, she was trying to be quiet, considering everybody else was asleep.

 _In for four, hold for seven, out for eight. Christ's sake just_ do it _._

Mari took a deep breath, and then tried the breathing exercises again.

After a few failed attempts, she managed to stay on the pattern, and a few tries after that, she managed to calm down a bit, but she could still feel herself shaking. There was no way she was getting to sleep any time soon.

She sighed, rubbing the sides of her arms. She felt tempted to leave her room, to grab a snack, but she was too afraid of something being out there - as irrational as that was - that she decided against it.

She guessed she was toughing out the night until she could go to sleep. Just like normal, except much more boring and much more anxiety inducing.

-

Mari had honestly forgotten what it felt like to be sleep deprived.

She had gotten so used to going to Freddy's and then feeling well rested in the morning. She supposed that effect was gone now, or maybe it was only there when she went to a Freddy's location. Nonetheless, she'd fallen asleep some time around 4 AM and woke up feeling like garbage.

Now, she was sitting with the rest of the group before school, in the courtyard, practically half asleep and leaning on Andy.

"So I'm guessing you all couldn't go to Freddy's?" Andy asked, observing the other tired looking kids around him, including the one nearly asleep on his shoulder.

The group chorused a series of "no's," much to everyone's relief and concern.

"How did you all handle it?" Alex asked, "I woke up, but I went back to sleep not long after. I was a bit anxious but I tried to assume the best."

"I slept through it." Clarice said. It made sense, considering she looked the most well rested of the group.

"Me too." Jack said, "Though, I woke up every now and then, but only for a few minutes at most."

"I couldn't sleep." Penny said, looking as tired as Mari, "I'm only able to function because I had coffee."

"Too bad I hate coffee..." Mari mumbled, "I couldn't sleep either. I had 'n anxiety attack."

They all looked at her with concern, and Andy put an arm around her. She snuggled into his shoulder more.

"What about you, Andy?" Jack asked.

"I woke up, but I went back to sleep after I realized that it didn't look like we'd go." He said, shrugging with the shoulder that didn't have one of his friends sleeping on it, "I figured that if something was wrong we'd figure it out in the morning."

Alex chucked, "Yeah, I had to convince myself the same thing."

"So, Alex, you're the brain. What do you think happened?" Penny asked.

The group pretended to not notice Alex preening, and he pretended to not notice their amusement.

"Well, I'd guess that maybe because Jack figured out how to transform, maybe we didn't need to go anymore." He said, "The rest of us had already figured everything else, all that was left was that."

"Way to make me feel like I made an achievement." Jack mumbled.

"Oh shut up, you know I didn't mean it that way."

The fact that Jack cracked a smile only proved it.

"So, you think that because we managed to 'master' - I guess - our powers, we don't have to go anymore?" Clarice asked.

"Yep." Alex said, "I think that we only went to Freddy's to learn about and learn to control our abilities."

"That makes sense, I guess." Mari mumbled, "But you're a nerd."

"Yes, I'm aware." Alex said, adjusting his glasses - which he'd gotten around the end of fifth grade.

The group rolled their eyes.

"Alright you stereotypical cartoon nerd, explain a little bit more." Clarice said, "I don't completely get it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! This is like the one time I write characters who are actually my age! I just realized that and I think it's funny!  
> These characters need hugs tho and it only gets worse from here lol.


	5. Obsolete

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning(s): paranoia mention, cursing, mentioned sparring/violence(?) (as training), a character being physically held back, panic, fighting, knife, blood, murder, not quite main but not quite side character death, losing a parent(?)
> 
> The song this chapter is named for is Obsolete by NateWantsToBattle
> 
> Now is a good time to remember this is an angst fic.

"Are you guys sure that's the smartest thing to do?" Chris asked, from his place behind the stove, making grilled cheese sandwiches.

"Yeah. It's been a few months, and we just wanna... I guess test out our powers?" Alex said, "There's only so much we can test without affecting our surroundings. At Freddy's, nobody goes there."

"Not nobody." Henry said, receiving a scolding look from Val.

"What do you mean?" Penny asked.

"We didn't want to tell you all until we double checked," Francis said, "But I guess we can't wait now."

"Tell us _what_?" Mari questioned.

"We think we saw the body." Liz said quickly, getting everyone's attention. She'd been in the bathroom, but sometimes when she came into a room she was so quiet that it seemed like she had just appeared. "Francis was out shopping and passed by Freddy's on their way back, and they saw somebody leaving the location, who they could just tell was him."

"How do you guys know it's _really_ him, though?" Mari said, "If you could tell it or whatever, how do you know that it's not just your mind playing tricks on you? I mean, I sometimes feel like I can _just tell_ something is out there waiting for me at night even though I'm perfectly safe."

"Yeah, but this wasn't paranoia." Francis said.

"How can you tell, though?" Alex asked.

"I guess I can't." Francis said with a shrug, "I've never dealt with paranoia, even mildly."

Mari shrugged, "Be glad you don't. It _sucks._ "

"I bet."

They were quiet after that, and Liz sat down next to Henry on the couch, unpausing the movie they'd been watching before the conversation started.

"So does that mean we can go?" Clarice asked, receiving a chorus of groans from the adults.

"You guys aren't going to drop this, are you?" Val asked with a sigh.

"Nope." Mari said, popping the p.

The adults looked around at each other, making eye contact.

"Fine." Liz said. The kids cheered.

"But we have to go with you."

The kids didn't seem to care.

"I guess that means Clarice and Andy can't make out." Mari said, receiving a shove from Clarice while Andy squawked indignantly.

"That was _one time_ -"

"I'm sorry, what do you mean 'that was one time?'"

Mari cackled while Clarice attempted to explain to Henry, who was feigning sternness. When he broke character, Mari started to laugh harder, while Clarice yelled at them.

-

It was 12 AM.

Mari inhaled, transforming with a smile. Ah, yes. Even without the compulsion, this was still a more comfortable form. She did her best to ignore the adults mumbling to each other behind her, having never technically seen a transformation at Freddy's.

She didn't know how to explain it, but a transformation wasn't the same at Freddy's. Whether it was quicker or easier or more powerful, she didn't know what made it different, she just knew that it was _more_ of something.

Stepping out of the music box - she technically didn't need it to transform anymore, but she still did whenever at Freddy's, it was a sort of comfort thing - she couldn't help but see Liz gaping at her.

"What?" Mari asked, chuckling.

"Nothing, it's just," Liz paused, trying to find a word, "It's one thing to hear about it, and another to see it, y'know?"

"Yeah. Makes sense."

They quickly joined the rest of the group, all now in the main stage area.

"When y'all said you transformed into the animatronics, I thought you _literally_ turned into the animatronics." Chris said, "Not that you just became like, humanoid versions of them."

"We became humanoid versions of the animatronics." Jack said, receiving a light shove from Chris.

"I know that now, smartass!" Chris exclaimed with a laugh.

The group all laughed at that.

"So, what do you usually do these nights?" Henry asked.

Clarice lit up, before teleporting over to Andy and Penny - who were sparring. The two of them didn't react much to her appearance, simply looking over at her before continuing. She did that sometimes.

"Sometimes we spar. I don't know if that's the right meaning of the word but that's what we call it." She said, before teleporting over to where Mari sat on the stage.

"We also just hang out, y'know? Talk about things-"

"Ignore you and Andy making out." Mari said with a cheeky grin.

Clarice sputtered, before shoving Mari and hopping off of the stage.

Transforming back to her normal form, as quick as she could, Clarice took a deep breath, before changing back.

"We also just test out our powers." She said.

"When we're feeling adventurous we explore, but we don't really do it a lot, it's kind of creepy here, even though we can see in the dark." Jack said, coming up next to Clarice.

"Yeah." Mari said, "I have a theory that the mechanic and one of the chefs were having an affair or something. I found a number of things that should be in the kitchen in the mechanic's office."

"Mari, that's literally the only proof you have of that theory." Alex said.

"Well, it's fun to think about."

"I like to try to find out how the mechanic built the animatronics, rather than making _baseless_ theories about his love life."

"Oh fuck off, dude. You're the one who does the cliche thing in highschool movies where the main character writes their name with their crush's last name."

"Hey!"

Mari grinned, "You do."

"Awww, that's so cute." Val said.

"Shut up!" Alex exclaimed, covering his face.

"I'm just saying-"

"Like you don't pine hopelessly after your crush like a cliche rom-com character." Penny interrupted, tilting her head in Mari's direction.

"And we're done! Done with this conversation!" Mari said, standing up on the stage and going to hide backstage.

"Yes, please." Alex mumbled.

"Mari! No! Come back!" Penny exclaimed, drawing out the last word.

"No! You're an asshole!"

"I think we all are."

Mari sighed, coming back out from behind the curtains.

"Fine, but only because it's creepy back there."

-

The kids were now testing out their abilities to transform, attempting to change only some body parts rather than fully changing. They'd been able to do it before, albeit with a bit of trial and error, but they seemed to be getting the hang of it.

A clatter from behind the curtains onstage got Mari's attention. She was, once again, sitting at the edge of the stage, having decided to take a break from what the group was doing.

She stood up, walking closer to the curtains, until she was almost behind them, where she'd gone off to earlier that night. But then she stopped, wondering if this was the smartest.

She turned back to face the group, "Hey guys-"

Mari was suddenly pulled back, a hand over her mouth and another around her torso.

A shush from behind her confirmed her fears, and she froze, beginning to panic.

_God, no, no, no, no, no please not right now, not ever, why-_

"Mari?" She heard Liz ask, definitely closer than she'd been when Mari had been out there.

Liz was on the stage. If she got close enough, who's to say he wouldn't kill her?

Mari struggled more, scratching at the hand on her mouth. When he didn't move it, she tried to pull it away herself. Managing to pull his hand away for a moment, she called out.

"Help!" The hand returned to her mouth, and the one around her torso moved up, still holding her in place while the hand went around her throat.

_No, no, help-_

She teleported out of the backstage area on instinct, and was now in the middle of the room the rest of the group was in.

She heard multiple gasps, but her eyes were shut, and the next thing she knew, she'd been let go. Or, more accurately, somebody had managed to pull her away.

Opening her eyes, she saw that it was Jack, and looking back at _him_ , she saw Alex holding him back. Jack put her down, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Are you okay?" He asked, almost frantic.

"Yeah, I'm-" Mari took a shaky breath, "I'm okay."

"Good." And with that, Jack pulled away, going to assist Alex.

But Alex wasn't fighting anyone anymore. The... _him_... he was gone. Alex just stood there, confused.

And then they suddenly heard a scream. Looking to the source of the scream, the group saw Val, being held by him similarly to how Mari had been grabbed. But now, he only had one hand holding on to her torso, the other holding a knife.

Mari felt panic well up again, finding his face familiar. Too familiar. Was the body somebody she knew? _Oh god, please don't be._

The knife was plunged into Val's stomach, and Mari's blood ran cold. He laughed maniacally, before dropping her body, taking the knife out. He rushed forward, slashing at Liz.

She didn't even remember teleporting, but suddenly Mari was there, blocking the knife with her hands. The only reason she wasn't hurt was because she had her "claws" out, and she couldn't help but feel thankful for it.

Mari grabbed at him, landing a scratch right on his face. He rushed up to Henry and slit his throat, not being blocked this time. Mari looked away, not wanting to see, only to rush to get in front of Chris, who he was going for next.

She didn't make it in time, but Penny jumped on him, knocking him down before he could get to Chris. The two fought for a bit, Penny trying to pin him down and take the knife, while he attempted to slash at her. He got the upper hand when Penny's hand slipped, and he pushed her off of him.

The rest was a blur. It happened so quickly she wasn't sure she could distinguish the before and the after.

One moment they were standing there, staring at the scene before them in horror, and a second later _he_ was on Liz, laughing maniacally as he plunged the knife once, then twice, then three times.

Almost breaking out of whatever haze they were in, Mari managed to slash at him a bit, and Andy knocked him over, Mari was pretty sure that at one point when Jack was trying to hold him back she heard a crunch. Alex tried to land a hit, but couldn't and Clarice was mostly trying to defend rather than attack him.

He stepped back into the shadows as Alex attempted to grab at him, and suddenly he was no longer there.

Mari stood there, not sure about what to do before her legs were telling her to run towards Liz and her hands to claw and grasp at her, because for some reason something in her mind was telling her that it could possibly bring her back.

But even as she did so, she was too late. Too late to save Liz, to save Henry and- and Val and Chris and Francis.

Mari stared at the bodies of the adults who had promised her so much. Safety, a normal life, among those things.

She fell to her knees at Liz's body, and she felt tears run down her face. Liz was barely keeping her eyes open, her hand clutching at her chest, barely breathing.

Mari was stuck. Stuck on her knees, stuck looking at Liz's wounds, stuck and thinking over and over and over again _please don't leave me please I can't do this all over again please I-I need you I-_

She sobbed.

She wanted to say all of it, to yell it until her voice got raspy and her throat got sore. But she was stuck, and she only whimpered and sobbed as Liz cupped her cheek and smiled, the same smile that had greeted her so many years ago, that had calmed her down and made her laugh and made her feel safe and at home and loved.

"Liz- Liz please I- you- don't go you can't-" She uttered, so fast and too close together and said between sobs, barely understandable. But Liz seemed to understand, she always seemed to understand.

Her warm smile persisted and she stroked Mari's hair, silent. Mari shook her head and fell forward, hugging her guardian, the closest thing she had to a mother, with all her might. She whispered and sobbed for so long it felt like hours, and she thought in her frenzied mind that maybe, maybe if this was how Liz could stay, she would keep doing this forever.

But Liz's hand went limp on her head, and Mari's heart stopped with hers.

Henry was dead, Val was passed out, not dead, but she wasn't getting out of this alive. Francis was holding onto Andy, promising him that they'd be okay, but it was obvious that they'd have the same fate as the others. Chris was dead as well, the white of his shirt stained red on his back.

"Please." Mari whimpered, reaching her hand out to Liz's body. "Please, please, _please_. I need you, don't go, please."

She hugged Liz tighter. "Please." She said, going from a whimper to a shout, "Please!"

Mari sobbed loudly, her cries echoing throughout the room. "Liz. Don't- Don't g-go! I need you here! Pl-" She trailed off into sobs, littered with unintelligible words, likely more pleading.

Feeling a hand on her shoulder, she looked up, seeing Jack. His face was crumpled up, tears falling out of his eyes with no way of stopping. He opened his arms, and she fell into them, crying loudly.

As he hugged her back, she felt him sobbing too, quieter but in just as much pain. Penny joined the hug not long after, and then Clarice, and then Alex, and then Andy.

Mari realized why she recognized him, as she calmed down.

_He had her father's face._

Oh god, the body wasn't just anybody she knew.

-

When Mari got home, the group came with her, where a sleepy Mika was waiting for them. Seeing their distraught expressions, the few injuries they had from the fight, and the blood on their faces, their hair, their clothes, from where they'd hugged or touched their dying guardians, she immediately feared for the worst.

The group cleaned themselves up, throwing out any bloodstained clothes and instead borrowing something of Mari's or Mika's.

They all sat in the living room. Mari had run out of tears to cry, but Milka had just begun to cry, and Mari comforted her sister.

"I- I can't believe-" Mika hiccuped, "What are we gonna do?"

"I don't know."

Mari rubbed a hand on Mika's back, feeling almost numb now.

What were they going to do? What were they supposed to do in this situation? Their guardians had kept them safe, but without them, where were they supposed to go? How were they supposed to go there?

In the end, once they'd all regained their composure, or what they could, Mika called the police, reporting that Liz hadn't come home after leaving the house the night before.

Eventually, the bodies were found, and the group was broken up to go into the foster system. They didn't know why, but somehow they remained in the same places, in the same school, same town, and they were able to stick together.

It was odd, but Mari had known that the group had some sort of connections, maybe those connections had helped them stay together.

She didn't know what to do, though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
> 
> Okay I'm sorry


	6. It's Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning(s): cursing, sex mention, references to underage sex, pregnancy, underage pregnancy, panic, period mention, anxiety attack mention, jokingly mentioned emotional repression
> 
> The song this chapter is named for is It's Me by TryHardNinja
> 
> Now's a good time to remember the tags, again, but like, different.

When Clarice had started high school, she'd been given "the talk" from her foster parents, two nice women named Olivia and April. They'd told her to use protection and to be careful and to tell them if anything ever happened.

Armed with knowledge and impatience, Clarice had, in the end made a decision that she both regretted and didn't. And she and Andy slept together.

Fifteen was probably too young, and she knew that, but she'd been stupid.

Perhaps this was karma.

But this was a very fucked up karma, in her opinion. This was life ruining, this- she didn't know how to describe this.

She'd felt dirty from the moment she'd bought the test, but she'd crossed her fingers and hoped that what had caused her suspicions were just complications caused by being technically undead, or just coincidences.

Of course, those hopes were immediately crushed when she saw the test, marked positive. She'd immediately gotten into the shower, feeling dirty and like she needed to be washed, and now here she was sitting, curled up in the bathtub as the shower water rained over her.

It was starting to get a bit colder, but she didn't care, more preoccupied with keeping her shallow breathing under control as tears fell down her face and she tried not to sob too loudly.

She could imagine it now. Olivia and April had mentioned to her that they wanted to adopt her, but now they definitely wouldn't. Andy would leave her, the group would leave her. How would other kids at school react? How was she supposed to tell everyone?

What if she didn't tell everyone?

_No, that's stupid. You gotta tell at least somebody._

How would Andy's family react? He'd been the luckiest out of the group, being adopted by the first family that had taken him in. How would they feel about this?

Was Clarice ready to be a mother? Did she even want to keep this... baby? She didn't even know.

It got harder to breathe as the reality of the situation sunk in, and before she knew it, she was gasping for air as she sobbed, hugging her sides and curling up into a ball as she stopped trying to be quiet.

_Oh god. What do I do?_

-

Drying herself off, Clarice grimaced when she saw the test still sitting there on the bathroom sink. She quickly threw it into the trash, before covering it in toilet paper so it couldn't be seen. She wrapped the towel around herself, before walking down the hallway to her room.

She got dressed pretty quickly, putting on baggy clothes that hid her figure, because maybe she'd stop feeling like she was bad if she did.

Not long after she'd thrown on her hoodie, there was a knock on her door.

"Come in." She said, sitting down on her bed.

The door opened, revealing Olivia, and she walked in. "Hey, everything okay?"

Clarice hugged her sides, looking off to the side. She thought for a minute before she shook her head.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Olivia asked. When Clarice nodded, she closed the door, before sitting next to the teen.

"I did something really stupid." Clarice said, getting choked up. "It seemed fine at the time but now I'm screwed."

She couldn't help but chuckle, with no humor behind it, at her word choice.

"What happened?" Olivia asked.

Clarice hunched over, hiding a bit in her hoodie, as some tears fell.

"You know Andy?"

"Yeah. He's your boyfriend, right?"

"Yeah."

Olivia looked at her sympathetically. "Did he break up with you?"

"What? No!" Clarice said, facing Olivia.

"Then what's going on?"

Clarice tried to sync herself up, but in the end it didn't calm her nerves at all. "We slept together."

Olivia's eyes widened, and Clarice could tell that Olivia was trying not to seem unsupportive. She chuckled.

"Stupid, I know." Her face fell, and she looked at her arms, where they were positioned hugging her sides, over her stomach. "And now I guess I'm paying for it or something."

Olivia put a hand on her shoulder. "What do you mean 'paying for it?'"

"I... I've been feeling weird lately." Clarice said, trying to work up to it, "I felt sick sometimes, and my period was late, so I... I bought a test. Just to kinda confirm that my suspicions were false."

"Yeah?"

"And it came back positive. I'm pregnant." She nearly whispered, her voice getting quieter as she started to cry again.

"Oh, come here, sweetie." Olivia said, opening her arms.

Clarice accepted the offer, and Olivia rubbed her back as she cried into the woman's shoulder.

"We'll figure this out." Olivia said, "And whatever decision you make, whether you keep this kid or not, I promise you that April and I will stay on your side."

Clarice sniffled, "Really?"

"Yep. Promise."

Clarice cried harder, hugging Olivia tighter and muttering thank you's between sobs.

-

" **Hey, C, what's up?** "

"Are you free?"

" **Yeah, why?** "

"Can you come over? I... need to talk to you."

" **Alright, yeah. I'll be there in a few.** "

"'Kay. Love you."

" **Love you, too. Bye.** "

"Bye."

Clarice took a deep breath as he hung up, before hanging up the phone herself and going to the kitchen to get another glass of water. She knew she was probably dehydrated from all the crying, so she wanted to stay hydrated.

About twenty minutes later, there was a knock on the door, and in came Andy.

"Hey."

They hugged, and Clarice offered him some water or some snacks. He declined, saying he was fine. They went to her room, sitting down on her bed.

"So what's up?"

Clarice hugged her sides again, and she already felt the tears well up. She chuckled, wiping at her eyes. She saw Andy's expression go from relaxed to concerned.

"I'm fine, I think. Just had an emotional day."

Andy waited patiently, holding her hand when she stopped wiping at her tears. She smiled at him, and remembered that this was Andy. Maybe this wouldn't work out, but above all, they were best friends.

That still didn't make this any easier to say.

"Okay, so... this is really hard to say." Clarice said, "So I'll just rip off the band-aid."

"Okay-"

"I'm pregnant."

She felt Andy's hand - his thumb had been stroking the back of her hand - freeze. Looking back up at him, she saw that his eyes were wide, and he looked more stunned than anything.

"You- Really?" He asked.

She nodded, biting her lip as tears welled up again.

"Okay, first of all, just know that I love you." Andy said, "I just... Don't know how to process this. It's a lot."

Clarice let out a laugh.

"If it's not obvious enough, I did not react well." She said.

Andy wiped her tears away, kissing her forehead. "We're both in over our heads, but I'll try my best."

"So will I." She said.

"I... Can I sleep over?" Andy mumbled, "I mean this with the most innocent intentions possible, I just wanna be with you after this whole... discovery."

"I mean, if your guardians are fine with it, and Olivia and April are fine with it, I don't care."

"Alright, cool."

In the end, it was fine, but April and Olivia had the two of them sleep in the living room. Clarice figured it was fair enough.

Andy's guardians hadn't taken the news terribly, but they'd made it clear that they'd have a talk with Andy when he got home. He figured it was fair enough.

They lied on an air mattress, and looking at his watch, Andy saw that it was almost midnight.

"What do you want to do?" Andy mumbled to Clarice, who was in his arms, "With the baby, I mean."

"I don't know if I want to raise it or not, but I'm afraid to get an abortion. I don't know a lot about them, but I doubt they're easy to get." Clarice said, "I don't know. Unless I'm in danger, I don't want one, at least right now."

"That's perfectly fine." Andy said, "You're the one who'd give birth to this kid, so it's up to you."

"Even if you're technically the other biological half to this kid?"

"Yep."

This all felt so weird to say out loud. It was one thing to think it, but a whole other thing to actually say it.

"This is honestly such a crazy thing." Andy said, running his fingers through Clarice's hair, "I mean, we're still just kids."

"Yeah." Clarice said, burrowing her face in Andy's chest.

"We can figure the rest of the details out later on, because I'm not in the right emotional state to make such big decisions." Clarice said, receiving a chuckle and an agreement from Andy.

They were quiet after that.

"My mom was a teen mom, y'know." Clarice mumbled, "She had me at seventeen."

"I know."

"But she wasn't the only teen mom in her family. Her aunt was also, and other relatives. It was like a pattern."

"Really?"

"Yeah." Clarice said, her voice cracking, "I thought I wouldn't be a part of the pattern. I guess I was wrong."

Andy rubbed a hand up and down her back, comforting. "That's okay. We'll get through this."

They fell into another silence, and eventually they fell asleep.

Maybe things would be okay.

-

When they got to school the next Monday, Andy was practically glued to Clarice's side. It was both endearing and amusing, while also being annoying. But she knew he meant the best. At least he wasn't treating her like she was super fragile.

The entire day it felt like everybody knew, and like they'd all say something. Of course, that made no sense, and Clarice was just nervous, but it was still nerve wracking.

They were at lunch, sitting on the bleachers - they always snuck off to the bleachers, the teachers didn't care anymore at this point - when Clarice decided now was as good a time as ever to tell the group.

One pointed look at Andy and vague gesture later, and Andy understood what she was doing.

"So, um, I've got something to tell you all." Clarice said, fake excitement not helping mask her nervousness at all, "I don't quite know how I feel about it yet but I mean, it's gonna affect my life and you're all big parts of my life so you should know and-"

"Hey, breathe. Spit it out." Alex said.

The group waited for her to speak, but Clarice stayed quiet. She and Andy made eye contact, and he gave her a comforting smile. She nodded, muttering an "okay."

"I'm... uh..." She stammered.

"What, are you pregnant or something?" Mari asked, obviously joking, until she saw the expression on Clarice's face.

"No... Really?" Penny asked.

"Yep." Clarice said, nodding.

"Wow. I was just kidding." Mari said.

"Meh, you made it easier to announce, so I'm not complaining." Clarice said with a shrug.

Jack adjusted his glasses - which he'd gotten during freshman year - so that they didn't fall off of his face. "When did you find out?"

"Saturday."

"Saturday?!"

"Yeah."

"How'd you take it?" Penny asked.

"I... had what was probably an anxiety attack." Clarice said.

"Yeesh. That sucks." Mari said.

"Andy took it a lot better than me." Clarice said.

"Oh, no way, I was mostly hiding my freaking out because I knew it would make you feel worse." Andy said, "I was pretty fine by the end of the day, though."

"And that's another addition to the 'Andy needs to stop hiding his feelings to make others feel better' list." Mari said, pretending to make a check with her finger.

"Oh, shut up!" Andy said, flicking her in the forehead.

"Bitch!" Mari exclaimed, before trying to flick him back, only for him to dodge.

Clarice laughed.

Yeah, things would be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this is what happens when I rewrite a story I originally came up with in 4th grade, topics that I didn't realize were heavy at the time I actually address. Does that make grammatical sense? I think it does.
> 
> Yes I came up with this in 4th grade. I wrote what is now considered book 2 and so while the events of this chapter wasn't a big plot point, they'd happened in what was, at the time, the characters' backstories. When I decided to rewrite this fic and actually write a book that for what was the characters backstories, I realized I had to write this. Fun.
> 
> At least I know how to handle mature topics now, fourth grade me just thought it was good for making characters edgy.
> 
> Sorry that was like a whole other side tangent, but yay y'all now know a fun fact about this fic!


	7. It's Been So Long

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning(s): implied racism, implied homophobia, implied transphobia, shitty parents, cursing, pregnancy, teen pregnancy, arguing, crying, being overwhelmed, military mention, death mention, possible abandonment
> 
> The song this chapter is named for is It's Been So Long by The Living Tombstone
> 
> Y'know, it's that one song everyone knows. Not that I'm bashing it, I fucking adore it.

Mari stepped into the apartment her sister owned (which she basically lived in too, but legally she was still a minor and was still living with her foster parents), and heard talking from down the hall.

"He seriously said that?" She could hear Mika say from down the hall.

"Yeah. He said other things too, but I really don't wanna repeat it." She heard Mika's boyfriend, David, say.

"Yeesh." Mika said, before she noticed Mari walking in from the hall, "Oh, hey, look who's home."

Mari dropped her backpack next to the sofa before she jumped over the back of it, sitting in between the couple.

"So, what's the latest drama?" She asked.

"My parents, as usual." David replied.

Mari turned to him, looking exasperated. "What did they do now?!"

"The usual."

Mari leaned back on the sofa, groaning. "God! If I wasn't a kid, and I wasn't scared of my own shadow, I'd go and fight them myself!"

She ignored David and Mika's amused expressions.

"Nobody talks shit about my sister but me!" Mari said, "And even then I don't do that a lot because we're not those kind of siblings!"

That got David to laugh, and Mari grinned.

When Mika had first introduced Mari to David, she'd been apprehensive, like any protective younger sister would be, but she quickly warmed up to him. He was a good guy, and obviously liked Mika, especially considering he was still with her after all the shit his family had given him for it, he was a keeper.

"And then they had the _audacity_ to say something about you and your friends!" David said.

"How would they even have beef on me? The only thing they'd know that they wouldn't like about me is that I'm Mexican." Mari said.

"Nah, my sister likes to talk." David said. "My parents don't like your friends, especially Penny and Alex."

"I mean I get why bigots like your parents wouldn't like Penny but why Alex?"

"My sister used to have a crush on him and when she confessed he told her he liked a boy."

"Oh my god that was your _sister_?"

"Yeah." David laughed.

"That was in like seventh grade!" Mari exclaimed.

"You think they care? They'll take any opportunity to be critical of just about anyone." David said.

"Geez, what's their problem?"

"Everything."

Mari laughed. "Seems like it."

  
She really did like David. She hoped he'd stick around for a while.

-

It was a Saturday, and Mari was having a girl's day with Penny and Clarice. Andy, Alex, and Jack had been kicked out, but only for a few hours. Then they'd be coming back. Mari just wanted some time with the other girls.

"So, how'd your latest checkup go?" Mari asked.

"It went good." Clarice replied.

"That's good." Penny asked, "When's this kid due?"

"May twenty-third."

"Damn. You've got a while."

"Well it's one month down, seven to go."

"You're gonna miss the end of school." Mari said, "Even if the baby ends up being born in the summer, you're probably gonna get some sort of break."

"That's true."

"You do know we're gonna visit you like every day and annoy the living shit out of you?"

Clarice snorted. "Yeah."

"Hey Mari?!" Mika called from wherever she was outside of the room.

"Yeah?!"

"Can you come here, I need to talk to you!"

"Okay!"

Mari turned to the other two girls, shrugging.

"Oooh, looks like someone's in trouble." Penny said, dragging out the end of "trouble."

Mari shoved her shoulder.

Almost as if she'd heard it (though there was no way she had), Mika called out, "You're not in trouble or anything I just have something to tell you!"

Mari got up. "Don't destroy the room while I'm gone."

"No promises!" Penny called out to Mari's back.

Mari rolled her eyes as she closed the door behind her, walking the few steps it took to get to Mika's room, where her sister sat on the bed.

"What's up?"

Mika looked up at Mari, and she could immediately tell that something was off. It didn't mean something was bad, just off. She quirked her head to the side.

"How would Clarice feel if I told her that her kid would have a little companion not too long after they're born?"

Mari's eyes widened, and she froze. "Wait, what?"

Mika laughed, though it was a bit nervous. "I just found out that I'm pregnant."

"Wh- How?! I mean, cool, I don't really know how to react, but how?"

"Do you really want me to answer that question?"

"No! Gross. I don't wanna think about that."

Mika rolled her eyes. "I found out only a few minutes ago. I haven't completely processed it yet, but yeah. I'm pregnant."

"Well." Mari said, pausing, "Are there any other surprise babies I should be aware of? Anybody else gonna become a parent too young?"

She could tell by Mika's expression that she was not expecting that reaction, before she burst out laughing, Mari joining not long after.

"Does David know?" Mari asked, after the two had calmed down.

Mika shook her head, "You're the first person I told."

She looked down, fiddling with her thumbs. "Honestly, I don't know how he'll take the news."

"I'm sure he'll freak out at first."

"Gee, that's comforting."

" _But!_ He's treated you well, and he loves you. He's obviously willing to deal with problems that may come from dating you, if his issues with his parents aren't proof enough. If he doesn't end up staying with you, I'd be shocked."

"Yeah, I guess."

"If he does leave you, though, I'll be the first person to go and knock some sense into him." Mari said. That got a chuckle out of Mika.

"Yeah. He... he wouldn't do that."

"I hate to sound rude but can I go back with the girls now?" Mari said, "I'm nervous that Penny is gonna start going through my shit, and while I don't really have _too much_ to be embarrassed about, I don't want her finding the few things that I _do_ have."

"Yeah, yeah. Go on, stupid." Mika said with another laugh. This one sounded a lot less anxious, which Mari considered a win.

"You can crash the party if you want. They love you." Mari said, "You can also hide in here if you want. Do whatever, I don't really care."

"And I'm supposed to be the older sister. You're the bossy one."

"Unlike my ten year old self, I won't argue with that."

With one last smile, Mari left the room, going back to her own room to find Penny going through her notebooks in an attempt to find a diary.

 _Holy shit, I'm gonna be a_ tía _._

-

She was laying in bed - staring at the glow in the dark stars on her ceiling, with no real intentions of falling asleep anytime soon - when she heard the door open, and angry footsteps that were unmistakably _not_ Mika's echo through the house.

Getting up fast enough, she grabbed a pair of sweatpants and stepped out of the room, hearing muffled conversation. She got nervous, immediately fearing that David wasn't how she'd originally believed, but she tried to ignore that thought, knowing to not jump to conclusions too fast.

"I cannot _believe_ them. The way they were before was one thing, but this is a _whole new level!_ "

"David, breathe. They're not worth it-"

"Maybe not, but you're worth it. How could you stand to hear them say those things? They might as well have flipped you off and it would've been less offensive."

"David-"

"What's going on?" Mari asked, walking into the kitchen, where the two were. David was standing in the center of the kitchen and Mika was sitting on a counter.

"We told his parents about the pregnancy." Mika muttered, "You can figure out how it went."

Mari immediately beelined it for her sister, hugging her. She felt her shoulder get a bit wet, and wasn't surprised when Mika started to quietly sob.

"Oh god- I'm sorry, M." David said, "I shouldn't have-"

"No, you're upset, it's fine. I just-" Mika hiccuped, pulling away from Mari and wiping at her eyes, "I'm just overwhelmed."

"It was still shitty of me. I could've at least tried to read the room." David said, "Can I hug you?"

Mika nodded almost immediately, and he was by her side in a flash, his arms around her waist in a tight hug.

He kissed her on the temple, "I'm sorry."

"Shut up, I said it was fine."

"No, it's not fine. I made you cry."

"It wasn't _just_ you."

"I was one of the reasons, though, and the least I can do is apologize for my part in it."

Mika gave him a small peck on the lips. "Well then apology accepted."

Mari cleared her throat awkwardly, and though the couple broke it up, David didn't move away. Mari didn't really care much, it was just that they were having a moment, and it felt awkward. She walked over to the freezer, opening it and taking out the ice cream.

"Wanna watch your favorite movies and eat too much ice cream?" Mari asked.

With a slightly wet laugh, Mika nodded. "Sounds great."

-

"They... they did what?"

"They didn't do anything. I signed up. It was before the baby even existed. They pressured me, and I doubt they would've let me _not_ do it, but I still did it."

"Is there any way to... I don't know, get out of it?"

"Not that I know of."

Mika paced around the living room, where David and Mari said on the couch. David looked guilty, and Mari wasn't sure how to feel.

"When will you come back?"

"Probably in a good few years, at least."

Mika sank down into the couch, which she had stopped by in her pacing, covering her face. "Oh my god."

David had signed up for the military.

_The fucking military._

Mari's opinions on the military aside, this wasn't good for David and Mika, whose kids - they'd discovered they were having twin girls ( _twins!_ ) - were due in only a few months.

Granted, he'd done it before Mika's pregnancy was discovered - or likely even a thing. And his parents had pressured him into it. Something about experience serving or something.

This entire situation didn't seem fair to Mari. Not for Mika, not for David, not for Mari's unborn nieces who she'd already grown to love, not for anybody.

Mari couldn't help but feel like David's parents had to do with this bad luck, but she knew that there was no way two harmless - though shitty - middle aged people could do anything like that.

"When do you leave?" Mika asked, uncovering her face.

"In about a month." David said, "I... didn't know how to bring it up to you guys, I've been in denial until now. I'm sorry."

Mika pulled him into a hug. "While that is shitty, I understand, and I'm currently more concerned with how I might lose my boyfriend for who knows how long."

"M, you won't lose me."

"You don't know that."

"I can at least try to be optimistic, can't I?"

"I guess so, yeah." Mika said.

"Besides, I'll have two kids to come home to." David said, "I'd be a pretty shitty dad to just leave them like that."

"Yeah." Mika nodded, and Mari could tell her eyes got teary, "That's true."

True to his word, he left a little over a month later.

They never heard from him again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOOOOOO AND HERE'S WHERE I CAN FINALLY AT LEAST SORTA INTRODUCE ONE OF MY FAVORITE CHARACTERS IN THIS WHOLE SERIES!!!
> 
> (hint hint, it's one of Mika's kids)


	8. The Puppet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning(s): hospitals, pregnancy, teen pregnancy, mentioned giving birth, mentioned complications of birth, teen parents, cursing, sleep deprivation, jealousy, empty threats of violence, death mention
> 
> The song this chapter is named for is The Puppet by GatoPaint

Mari fidgeted with some string, something she hadn't done in years, sitting in the waiting room of the hospital.

She had never really liked hospitals. They felt almost artificial with their seemingly pristine condition, the smell of whatever cleaning supplies they used in the air mixed with hand sanitizer. There was always something going on in hospitals, too. People both were born there, and died there.

Mari just didn't like them.

But one of her best friends was currently giving birth, and so she was there anyway.

Sitting to her left was Alex, who had an arm around her (yes, her face had felt hot at first, she was fine now that she'd calmed down), and to her right was Penny, who was talking to Jack, sitting across from them. They were in the waiting room.

It was a good few days before the baby was due, so when Mari had gotten the call that Clarice was in labor, she hadn't been all _that_ surprised.

By the end of the pregnancy, Clarice and Andy had grown attached to their kid (their son, they'd discovered), and so they decided they'd keep the baby, and raise him. How they'd do that, while still being in highschool, Mari wasn't sure, but she knew they were up to the challenge, and didn't doubt them one bit.

It had been hours since they arrived, and it was starting to get dark. Mari was nervous.

April, one of Clarice's guardians, had explained that there's been some complications, so they needed to perform an emergency c-section, but it had been a while now. Shouldn't they have been done by now?

Olivia walked into the waiting room with a smile. "They wanted some time to calm down after everything, but you can come now." She gestured for them to follow, "Come on."

They all quickly got up, and were led down the hall to the room. They entered the room, seeing a tired looking Clarice holding a bundle of blankets - Andrew (the name they'd decided on for the baby, after Andy's father, they'd already nicknamed him Drew). Andy sat down next to the bed, staring at his girlfriend and his son with what could only be described as adoration.

Mari was the last one in the room, but it wasn't for any particular reason.

Okay, so she was hesitant, hospitals made her nervous, so what?

Clarice and Andy looked over at the group when they entered, both smiling but looking tired (Clarice looked a bit more tired than Andy, but that was a given).

"Hi." Penny said, a bit quietly in case the baby was sleeping

"Hi." Andy replied.

They all used probably a bit too much hand sanitizer before they got too close to the baby, but that wasn't really a bad thing.

Jack was the first to venture closer.

"Holy shit... That's a baby." He muttered, completely serious, much to Clarice's amusement.

"Indeed it is."

"You made that."

"Yep."

"Holy _shit_."

"Wanna hold him?"

Jack's eyes widened, and he almost froze. "For real?"

"Yeah, if you want to. You used hand sanitizer and he's got no issues, so why not?" Clarice said.

"Okay, sure." Jack said with a smile.

As soon as Andy got him situated, holding Drew the right way - Clarice couldn't exactly stand - Mari knew that Jack was _gone_.

"Oh, he's so _small_." He whispered, looking down at the baby in his arms, "Holy shit."

"Are you just gonna keep saying 'holy shit?'" Penny teased, receiving nothing but a dirty look from her brother.

Oh yeah, he was _really_ _gone_.

He smiled, and it wasn't his usual smirk or half smile. This was a bursting-at-the-seams happiness kind of smile.

"I love him." Jack said.

Andy and Clarice looked at one another, before looking back at Jack, both looking incredibly amused. "That's good, because he's here to stay."

"You're really going through with this, huh?" Mari asked, before quickly adding "I'm not saying you shouldn't, I'm just wondering how this is gonna be done."

"For the first few months, he'll be staying with Clarice, and I'll probably sleep over a lot. Once he's a little older, we'll decide where to go from then." Andy said.

"I'll take the rest of the school year off, though there's not much left of it anyway." Clarice added.

"I don't care what anybody said, I'm at least taking the first week off." Andy said, "If not more."

"Makes sense." Mari said.

"Get over here, Goldie, you have to see this kid." Jack said, and Penny walked over.

"He's so wrinkly." Penny cooed, receiving a laugh from Alex.

"Um, can I hold him?" Mari asked apprehensively.

"Sure."

Before she knew it, Mari was holding the bundle of blankets with a face that was Drew. She didn't react the same way as Jack, but she had to admit that he was pretty cute. She smiled at him.

"Hey there little guy." She said, "I can't wait to embarrass you in front of your friends when you're older."

"Of course she's already planned on embarrassing him." Alex said with a huff.

"Hey, it's like, my job."

-

"Summer time, baby!" Penny exclaimed, walking into the living room with Jack behind her.

"No sleep, baby!" Andy replied, mimicking her tone.

The twins sat down next to Andy, on the couch of Clarice's house.

"I can tell."

"You look like shit."

Andy rolled his eyes, "Gee, thanks."

"Look, I'm just saying, you should just talk to him."

"No way! Are you crazy?"

Mari and Clarice walked down the hall, Clarice holding a now slightly older (by only three weeks, but still older) Drew, looking just as tired as Andy, if not more.

"I'm just saying, I think you should talk to him." Clarice said, sitting down next to her boyfriend, handing him the baby.

"Says the girl with a fairytale relationship and, oh yeah, right, a literal _child_ with her first boyfriend, who she's still with." Mari replied, "Most people, such as me, don't have your luck, y'know."

They heard the sound of the door opening, and a moment later Alex came into the living room.

"What's going on?" He asked.

"Andy and Clarice need sleep, Jack and I are excited for summer, and Mari is pining." Penny said.

"I'm not pining!"

"And she's in denial."

Alex laughed. "Alright. Well, speaking of romance, guess who got asked out?"

"Carina?" Mari muttered petulantly, much to Penny's amusement.

"Me!" Alex exclaimed, hopping onto the couch cushion farthest away from Clarice and Andy, not wanting to disturb the baby, "Carina and I are going on a date on Friday!"

"It's about damn time!" Jack said, "How long have you liked her?"

"The entire fucking school year. And last year." Alex replied.

 _Wait, last year?_ Mari had known about this year but _last year too?_

In reality, Carina was a huge bitch who Mari didn't like one bit. She was entitled, living in a nice neighborhood, her dad had a well paying job and she constantly bragged, with two parents who were in love and a little brother. She was boring, ordinary, and while Mari normally wouldn't care about her home life, she was a huge bitch.

She waved around how much money she had. Her head was too big to fit the crown she thought she deserved, and she was so _annoying_ , god. Mari didn't understand what Alex saw in her.

But she wasn't going to ruin his happiness like that. He liked her, and somehow, she liked him back (and yeah, maybe that made Mari dislike her more, but she refused to acknowledge it).

"Hooray." Mari sarcastically mumbled, " _Good for you_."

"Don't be too butthurt." Penny muttered back.

"Well, besides that, did you hear what they're gonna have as the school play next year?" Clarice said, eyeing Mari, "Mr. Sanders finally decided, or so my friends in drama tell me."

Mari knew this subject change was an attempt to make her feel better, but she took the bait, perking up at the mention of the school play.

So she might've been kind of a theater kid. But she'd never been in any school play, and she hadn't been lucky enough in her freshman or sophomore year to get into drama class.

"Oh, really? What show?" Jack asked.

"Drumroll please," Clarice said, and everybody but Jack - who was now holding Drew - drummed their hands on some nearby surface, "Wicked!"

"Wait, seriously?" Mari asked, "And the school is okay with it?"

"Yep!"

"Mari, you should audition." Alex said, "I know you like theater, and you have a really good singing voice! You could get a lead!"

"Pshh, no way." Mari said, "They're gonna give all the leads to the seniors, obviously."

"Maybe, but I guarantee that you'd land a role!"

"Nah."

"Oh come on, you'd be so good!"

"Yeah!" Andy said, "Plus, I know you like Wicked."

Mari looked down, "I don't know."

"I say go for it. The worst that could happen is that you aren't casted, which I doubt will happen, but hey, you can at least say you tried, right?" Penny said.

"And if you never audition, you'll never even have a chance at getting _any_ role." Jack added.

"Okay, okay! Fine!" Mari said, "But if he changes the show I'm not auditioning."

"Deal."

"Hey, Alex, could you take Drew?"

"Uhh, sure. Clarice, could you help me hold him right?"

"I'm pretty sure you can do it by now, but yeah."

"Hey, Andy, how are those guitar lessons going?" Jack asked, as Drew was taken from his arms.

"They're going, but very slowly." Andy replied.

Clarice, who was done adjusting Alex's arms to hold Drew correctly, shoved Andy. "You are killing it, dude, don't you dare say otherwise!"

"Remember in middle school when we said we wanted to form a band?" Penny blurted out.

The group didn't bat an eye, Penny often said stuff that even barely related to the conversation (if it even related at all). They were used to it by now.

Mari chuckled, "Yeah?"

"At this rate, I feel like we could make a band. Mari can sing and Andy's learning guitar, and you didn't hear it from me, but a certain twin brother is trying to figure out the drums. We could form a band!"

"You weren't supposed to tell anyone, dumbass." Jack hissed, elbowing Penny, but she just laughed.

"That would be fun, huh?" Clarice said, "I probably could pick the piano up pretty easily, Henry taught me way back when."

"Yeah! And Alex could play the guitar too! You already know how to play it, don't you?" Penny said.

"Yeah." Alex replied.

"We're actually contemplating this?" Mari asked.

"Hun, this is planning, not contemplating." Penny said, "Hmm... Who would I be?"

"You can be the lead singer because I'm out." Mari said, standing up and walking to the kitchen.

Even though she was really going to get a soda, she made a whole show of leaving the room, just to laugh at the rest of the group calling out to her, jokingly pleading for her to return.

Eventually she returned with her soda, plopping back down where she'd sat before. Penny was now holding Drew, and they were talking about... Mika it sounded like.

"Hey Mari, how's Mika doing? She's due to have the twins any day now, right?" Alex asked.

"Yeah. They're due June fourteenth." Mari said.

"I cannot imagine having two kids. One was hard enough." Clarice said, "I mean, give birth to two kids, double the diapers, double the crying babies in the middle of the night, double this, double that. You better help her, Mari. I'm struggling with one baby and I've got way more help than Mika."

"I know, I will." Mari said.

"What is she planning on naming them again?" Andy asked, "Weren't they kind of wacky names?"

"They're not wacky, they're unique, and they're not too outlandish." Mari said, and she pretended that she didn't notice Alex's eyes light up at her use of one of the big words he often used.

"Well, what are they, regardless?" Penny asked.

"There's Amila, we're calling her Ami for short, and Samina, or Mina." Mari said.

"Okay, yeah, not too weird." Alex said, "Where'd she come up with those names?"

"Well, David had found the name Samina, I don't know how, and they both liked it. Amila was my _abuela's_ name." Mari said.

"Spanish class vocab word." Penny muttered.

"If you weren't holding a baby I would hit you." Mari said.

-

Mari was, once again, in a hospital. This was expected, considering the fact that Drew was only due a little under a month before the twins.

It was still weird, sitting next to a hospital bed that had her sister in it.

She held one of the twins, Ami, and she internally freaked out. She hadn't really processed it before, but now it was being shoved in her face.

She was an aunt. A _tía_. Whatever language she used didn't change the fact.

 _Holy fuck_.

Mina had been born first, and Ami came maybe half an hour later. Both girls were healthy, Ami was a little bigger than Mina, and their faces weren't exactly the same, but aside from that they looked pretty similar. Not identical (which would definitely be easier) but similar.

Mari was the only one visiting the hospital. Their foster parents, who Mari only occasionally saw at this point, didn't show up, and didn't care. Mari supposed she could get why. Mika was, legally, a grown adult now, at twenty, and she lived in her own home, in college, with a job. Not their problem, Mari guessed. It would've stung, if Mari cared about their foster parents at all.

Looking down at Ami now, once her freakout sort of ended (or at least paused, she could continue it later when she was alone), Mari immediately knew she'd die for this child. Or the one in her sister's arms.

"Hi, sweetie." Mari cooed.

Mika leaned a little bit in Mari's direction, and Mari looked over, seeing that the way Mika was positioned was so that Mina - if she could open her eyes, which, considering how young she was, she couldn't for very long yet, especially in the fluorescent lights - could look at her.

"Mina, Ami, meet your _tía_ , Mari." Mika said, "She's gonna help me take care of you, so get used to her presence."

Mari snorted. "Why yes, thank you mom, nice to meet you." She said in an annoyingly high-pitched voice.

"Oh shut up, it was supposed to be sweet." Mika said.

"Okay, jokes aside, I would literally die for these children." Mari said, "Like, I promise I'll protect them with my life."

"You're a drama queen."

"Well one of us had to be."

Mika smiled and turned back to Mina, who was stirring. She had a hand over the baby's eyes, blocking the lights, and cooed when Mina's eyes slowly opened, even if the baby just squinted for a moment.

Mari's heart melted. Yep, she was officially at these kids' mercy.

-

It was the fall now, which meant school was fully back in business.

And which meant auditions were now happening.

True to his word, the high school's drama teacher, Mr. Sanders, did indeed pick Wicked as the school's next play. Mari had died a little bit inside when she'd signed up to audition, but it was mostly just anxiety, and she was being, as Andy would say, dramatic.

Andy and Clarice were back at school, and Drew was now in daycare. They'd been apprehensive, but April and Olivia needed to work, as well as Andy's adopted parents, so they didn't have much of a choice.

The audition itself had been a blur, but Mari vaguely remembered the teacher complimenting her voice, which definitely gave her a nice confidence boost.

In the end, she was put in ensemble, but she also had been assigned the understudy of the girl who played Elphaba. She was glad to just be in the show at all.

At the moment, Mari and a handful of other kids were taking a break from learning choreography, sitting around the drama room. Mari herself was sitting on top of a stack of chairs, which were on a wheelie cart. If she swung one of her legs over the side of the chair, she could ride it around the room. It was fun.

"Hey, Ava." One of the kids Mari had befriended during the auditions, Johnathan, said, walking up to her. He took a seat on a stack of chairs not too far away, before shuffling his feet to wheel his way closer to Mari. She couldn't help but find it funny.

Johnathan was cute, in a sort of dorky way. Mari found him endearing, and had a hunch that if she allowed herself to go down that route, she'd probably develop a crush on him.

"Hey cutie." She replied.

The two were like that, they flirted a bit, though it was usually clumsy and kinda awkward.

"Did you hear Alyssa's singing?" Johnathan asked, "I just tried to eavesdrop, 'cause she's learning the proper vocals and yadah yadah, and holy shit, she's _terrible_."

Mari snorted, "You gotta give the girl _some_ credit. She had to be casted as Glinda for some reason."

"Yeah, I'll tell you the reason. Her mom's the costume designer." Johnathan said.

"True." Mari said, taking a minute to think before laughing.

"What? What's funny?" Johnathan asked.

Mari shook her head. "I just remembered I ran into Emily and Peter practicing their lines together. They're pretty decent actors, all things considered, but they have absolutely _no_ chemistry."

"Oh my god, yeah." Johnathan said, "Peter just doesn't have chemistry with anyone. And he's supposed to play Fierro, the like, playboy character."

"True, at least Emily and Alyssa have chemistry." Mari said.

"Yeah."

The two talked for a little while longer, before Johnathan wheeled away to go bother some other kids he was friends with.

When the rehearsal ended, Mari grabbed her backpack, before making her way to the parking lot, where she knew Mika would pick her up.

"Hey, Ava, wait!"

She turned around to see Johnathan jogging in her direction. Stopping, she let him catch up to her.

"Yeah? What's up?" She asked.

He took a moment to catch his breath, before standing up straight. "Um, I didn't really think this through, but... Would you go out with me?" He blurted out.

Mari blinked, before smiling. "Take me out on a date before asking that question."

He deflated, before what she said seemed to process. "Um, okay, wanna go on a date then?"

"Yeah." Mari said, giggling ( _giggling!_ ), "Since you asked so gracefully."

"You're mean to me." He said, "Um, how does Friday sound?"

"I'm busy Friday." She wasn't, but she always took the time after school on Friday to chill out and do nothing, which she didn't wanna mess with. "I'm free Saturday."

"Okay, how does two sound?"

"Sounds good. Where are we going?"

"Uh, maybe the movies. We could go there."

"Alright, sounds good. Maybe we can get lunch and then head to that one theater near the library? They have slushies."

"Yeah."

Mari looked behind her, where a line of cars - parents picking up their kids - was, and she spotted Mika's car.

"Sorry, but my ride's here." She said.

"Okay, see you Saturday?"

"See you Saturday."

With that, Mari went over to Mika's car. When she got in, she placed her backpack in the backseat, before turning to her sister, who she assumed could see her excitement based on the quirked eyebrow.

"Guess who just got asked out?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ayyyyy Mari has a date. Hope that she doesn't end up in a tough spot because of it. :)
> 
> Welp, this is Chapter 8. Come back some time this week for Chapter 9! I'm done spamming y'all now. Sorry about that, by the way!


	9. No More

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning(s): teens being immature and petty, cursing, talking bad about people, body shaming, transphobia, arguing, usage of the word slut, sex mention, toxic relationships, possessiveness (in an unhealthy way), a highschool party, alcohol consumption, underage drinking, what technically qualifies as cheating, vomiting
> 
> The song this chapter is named for is No More by NateWantsToBattle

Alex sat in class, watching the clock tick as he waited for the class to end. Next to him was Carina, his girlfriend, who he'd been with for almost a year now. He liked her, yeah, but she wasn't... amazing.

She was, at the moment, chattering about something, he didn't know what, he wasn't paying attention. With her talking, there was no way he could pay attention to the worksheet in front of him, though, so he just stared at the clock, hoping he'd space out so that it would feel like time was passing faster.

He supposed he succeeded when the bell rang only a few minutes later.

He grabbed his backpack, putting his folder in it before heading to the door, where he knew Mari would be hanging out. She had class in the same hallway, so the two of them usually would walk to their next period together.

This time, he was there before Mari, but he had no problem with waiting for her.

Carina passed by Alex, who was standing near the door, smiling at him. "What are you doing?"

"I'm waiting for Mari, we walk to our next class together."

He tried to ignore her sneer at that, that she quickly tried to turn into a smile.

"Why?"

"She's my friend."

"Well, yeah, but you might be late to class."

"She's not that slow."

With a huff, Carina walked out the door. Alex saw Mari walk up, and her shoulder bumped into the other girl.

"What's her deal?" Mari asked, as she and Alex walked down the hall.

"Oh, y'know, she's jealous." Alex replied.

Mari looked at him sympathetically, and opened her mouth to say something, before closing it again. Alex guessed she decided against it.

They were quiet the rest of the walk, until they got to Mari's class. She squeezed his arm, muttering a "Bye" before entering the classroom. Alex waved back at her, before heading to his own class.

-

He'd been in his last period (P.E.), the one period the group had somehow managed to all share, and they were playing basketball. Though, right now, Alex was getting himself a drink of water, stepping outside of the gym to the water fountain out in the hall.

"How were their parents even okay with it?"

"I know, they're not even subtle about it. And did you _see_ her in the locker room?"

"Yeah, oh my gosh, she did not bounce back."

The voices were coming from the girl's bathroom. Alex recognized one of the voices as Carina.

"I still can't believe your boyfriend hangs out with them."

His eyes widened, and he kept listening.

"I know! I wish he'd stop, but I've talked to him about it before and he just refuses to."

"Psh yeah, and then he hangs out with those stupid brothers, too."

"I know! They're a group of freaks, I don't get why he likes them."

He stepped back into the gym, unable to handle hearing anymore.

-

It was the end of the school day, and Alex usually walked home. Today, Carina was walking with him, as she lived only a few blocks away. She was talking about something, Alex didn't know. He didn't care, he just kept replaying what he'd overheard in his mind. He couldn't believe it, yet he also wasn't surprised.

"So I heard you and your friends talking." Alex said, interrupting her. She immediately got quiet.

"What?" She eventually replied.

"I heard you and your friends talking. Y'know, about how my friends are such _freaks_." He said, glaring at the ground in front of him.

"I never said that."

"That's weird, because I distinctly remember hearing you say that. Maybe not those exact words, but definitely something along those lines."

"I've also seen you throw plenty of looks at Mari, and I _know_ you misgender Penny when you think I'm not around." Alex said, holding up his fingers like he was counting out examples, "Or how you think Clarice is a slut, and that Andy is some terrible person. The only one who's safe from you is Jack, but I bet you've said shit about him that I just didn't hear."

Carina was quiet, and when Alex looked back at her she was staring at the ground.

"You weren't supposed to hear that." She muttered.

"Why would you say shit like that in the first place?!" Alex exclaimed, stopping where he was standing on the sidewalk.

"Because they're weird! I don't like them, they're not good influences on you and they're fucking _freaks!_ " She responded, almost as loud as Alex.

Alex laughed, but there was no humor behind it. "We're _done._ "

He walked away. He didn't stop when he heard her calling out to him, simply walking the remaining block to his house.

-

"Y'know, I heard Hannah is throwing a party." Mari said, "Wanna go?"

"Why would we go to a party?" Johnathan, who she was sitting with, asked, "We never go to parties."

They were sitting on a bench in front of the school, it was still morning and they, among plenty of other students, were waiting for the bell to ring.

"It sounds like it'd be fun. I wanna go, see what the hype is about."

"Yeah, no. You're not going."

"Why?"

"I don't trust you to go there by yourself."

Mari huffed, "I wouldn't be by myself, my friends would be there."

"Right, the two who've been screwing since seventh grade, the one who'll probably be already drunk, the guy who I don't trust at all, and Alex?" Johnathan said, counting out Mari's friends with distaste, "Yeah, no."

"You're not my dad. I can go if I want to." Mari responded, frowning.

"No, but I'm your boyfriend, and I say you can't go." Johnathan said, "Unless I'm going, you're not going, and I have literally no interest in parties."

Mari groaned.

"Look, I just want you to be safe."

"Right, because I'm in so much danger if I go to _one_ high school party."

"Yes! Somebody could take advantage of you, for example! Who knows what could happen?"

"Yeah, that won't happen. Remember when I said my friends were going with me?"

"Because I definitely don't think one of them might try something."

Mari stood up, "Why would they try anything with me? I've known them for eight years now, I think I know them better than you do."

"You might not know them as well as you thought." Johnathan said, standing up as well.

"I'm going, okay?" Mari said, "You can't change my mind. It's _my_ decision."

"I can't believe you're not listening to me. You know I'm just looking out for you." Johnathan said, "I'm just trying my best, here."

Ah, guilt tripping, something she was all too familiar with by now. It was his last tactic, and normally she fell for it, but she was done with it now.

"I am going." She practically growled, "Fuck off."

With that she stormed away, walking over to where she saw Alex just walk onto campus.

In truth, she had been happy with Johnathan before. They started dating a few weeks after he'd originally asked her out, and it had been nice at first. But of course, as the months passed, he got more and more possessive, and just _mean_.

She wanted to break up with him, but she was afraid, at the same time. He was her first boyfriend, and maybe he would change.

"Hey, so Hannah's party?" She said to Alex, playing it casual.

"What, you wanna go?" Alex asked.

"Yeah." Mari said, "I'm assuming that you're gonna go, if not the whole group."

"Yeah, I'm going. You can come with if you want." Alex said, "You don't normally go to parties. Anything up?"

"Nah, I just wanna see what's so cool about them."

Alex smiled, "Well there's no problem with that."

-

The radio played some popular song that Mari honestly didn't care about, and kids all around were drinking cheap beer. There were plenty of people, some standing around, some sitting down. There was a pool in the back, which had plenty of kids - most of which were wearing normal clothes - messing around in it.

Mari almost cringed, feeling sorry in advance for Hannah's parents.

She was sitting on a sofa, with Alex next to her and the rest of the group around there too. She held a red solo cup - how cliche - but she wasn't drinking too much, she mostly just sloshed her drink around, taking the occasional sip. She'd had enough.

Hell, she'd probably had _more_ than enough. She was feeling lighter and a bit more stupid than normal, and the buzzing feeling, which had started out light, wasn't intense or anything, but was definitely there.

"Hey, I'll be right back." Alex said, "I gotta go to the bathroom."

Mari watched as he stood up, acknowledging what he'd said with a nod and a small wave, before she took another - longer - sip from her drink. She felt the sofa dip next to her, somebody else taking Alex's seat.

"Hey."

Mari looked at the person who'd just spoken, seeing a girl who was around her age, maybe a grade above her. She had dark hair and darker eyes, and Mari couldn't help but think that she was very pretty.

"Hey." Mari replied.

"I haven't seen you around before." The girl asked, "You new?"

"Ah, um, this is my first party, if that's what you mean." Mari said, "Why?"

"I feel like I would've noticed your cute face before."

Mari felt her face heat up, caught off guard. The girl chuckled.

"Sorry, are you straight? I'll leave you alone if you are." The girl said, moving to get up.

Mari shook her head. "No."

In all honesty, Mari had no clue. Was she straight? She'd only had real crushes on guys, and had a boyfriend, but she couldn't deny the fact that girls were beautiful. If she really tried to think about it, maybe she'd have remembered having a few small middle school crushes on girls, but currently, Mari was a little drunk, and a little preoccupied.

The girl smiled, sitting back down in her seat.

The two talked for some time. Mari never caught the girl's name, but she did find out that this girl went to a different school, and was friends with Hannah. There was a significant amount of flirting, and Mari was too flustered and drunk to be embarrassed.

The girl leaned closer to Mari, and Mari got the hint, leaning in her direction as well.

"Ever kissed a girl before?" She asked. Mari shook her head.

The girl chuckled, before she pressed her lips against Mari's.

The kiss was a little awkward, but pretty quickly Mari got the hang of it. It started to escalate, when something in Mari's mind clicked.

 _She had a boyfriend_.

She pushed the girl away, ignoring the confused - and possibly hurt - look she received, and she stood up, rushing to find Alex.

She did finally find him, hanging out in another room, off to the side of the living room, with the rest of the group.

"Woah, Mari, you good?" Jack asked, "You don't look so good."

Mari swallowed, moving towards the group and sitting in the circle they'd formed.

"I... I just kissed someone." She muttered.

  
"Wait, really?" Clarice asked, "But aren't you with Johnathan?"

Mari nodded, sighing.

"Then why-"

"I wasn't thinking! We were just talking and then she kissed me and _I_ was perfectly fine with it but then I remembered Johnathan and I freaked out."

Penny grimaced, "Yeesh. That's not a pretty situation."

"No, it's not. What am I gonna tell Johnathan? I can't _lie_ to him!" Mari said.

"Just say that you were drunk and not thinking or something, he might be hurt but he'd probably understand." Andy said.

"Ugh! But that would prove him right!" Mari exclaimed.

"What do you mean 'prove him right?'" Alex asked, his voice taking a slightly dangerous edge.

"I mentioned the party to him this morning and he said that I couldn't go because he didn't trust me and he was scared I'd get taken advantage of or some bullshit!" Mari said, "We had a whole mini argument before I just walked away!"

"That doesn't sound healthy."

"Yeah no shit, Sherlock. I just, I don't know what to do! I'm fucking _miserable_ with him but how the hell does one bring that up? 'Hey, I know you're my boyfriend but I basically fucking hate you so I'm breaking up with you.' How does that sound?!"

"It sounds like you need to breathe." Jack said, resting a hand on Mari's shoulder.

She groaned, but she did take a minute to breathe.

And then she threw up.

After they cleaned the floor up and all that, Alex was the one to take her to the bathroom and clean her up.

"Y'know," She muttered, "I've had the biggest crush on you for forever. Like, I probably love you, I don't know."

Alex didn't say anything at first, trying to wipe vomit off of Mari's shirt.

"I know." He replied after a moment, "I don't feel the same way... sorry."

"Don't be sorry, I already knew that." Mari said, "I guess I got tired of pretending."

-

Mari had woken up on Saturday morning with a shitty hangover and an older sister who knew her pain. Between feeling physically sick and remembering what had happened at the party, Mari just wished that her bed would eat her.

But it hadn't, and eventually Mari did feel a bit better physically, and by Monday she was alright again.

It was the morning, now, and the group was hanging out again. Everything was normal, except Alex seemed to be a bit quieter.

"Hey, Alex, can I talk to you?" She asked him during a lull in the conversation.

He shrugged, and the two walked away from the group. Mari ignored the smirk she'd seen on Penny's face.

"So, I just wanted to say, um, what I said at the party..." She trailed off, trying to find the right words, "It wasn't untrue."

"Yeah, I figured." Alex said.

"I don't expect you to feel the same way, though." Mari said.

"I know. I'm sorry-"

"Don't you dare apologize, you dumbass. Just because I like you doesn't mean you have to feel the same way."

"I still feel bad."

"Well don't!"

Alex laughed, and Mari opened up her arms, offering a hug.

"Hug?"

"When would I say no to that?"

The two hugged.

"These feelings are probably gonna go away. I mean, they've faded quite a bit already within the last year. You're my best friend, regardless of any feelings." Mari said, "I hope you know that."

Alex smiled, "I know."

Mari saw Johnathan from behind Alex's shoulder and deflated.

"Well, looks like Little Johnny is here." She said.

Alex looked behind him. "You sure you can handle him? I mean, based on what you said at the party, he's not exactly the nicest."

"Yeah, I can deal. He'll probably give me shit about going to the party, but afterwards it should be fine." Mari said.

She walked up to him, and as she expected, he greeted her before he started telling her off.

"You shouldn't have gone."

"I know, I'm sorry."

They walked away from Alex, and the group, off to the area they usually sat. Mari tried to hide her frown.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Big oof


	10. The Mangle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning(s): cursing, sex mention, another highschool party, alcohol consumption, underage drinking, implied sex, hangover mention, talk of the foster system, death mention, loss of parents, car crash mention, crying
> 
> The song this chapter is named for is The Mangle by Groundbreaking.

"So, the end of the school year, huh?" Clarice asked with a grin.

"Fuck yeah!" Penny exclaimed.

"Time to go do stupid shit." Mari said, "Maybe even kinda literally."

"You're the only one who'll be doing stupid people, Mari." Alex replied.

"Yeah, but you don't have to say it."

Not too long after Hannah's party, Mari had officially broken it off with Johnathan. He'd flipped his shit and tried to do whatever he could to convince her to stay with him, but she didn't care anymore and left him anyway.

Now, a good few months later, Mari had developed... a reputation among the school. Since she'd broken it off with Johnathan, she'd slept with quite a few different people. She was feeling more confident than ever, and was actually enjoying herself for the most part for the first time in a while.

It was the end of the group's junior year now, and they were going to a party to celebrate. Maybe get a little drunk.

Drew was being watched by April and Olivia, so Clarice and Andy were able to stay out late, and it seemed that Andy was taking this opportunity to be a stupid teenager.

Clarice, who didn't like drinking all that much, on the other hand, was a designated driver, alongside Alex, who'd actually never gotten drunk before and was too afraid to.

Mari and Jack were already drunk not too long into the party, with Penny close behind and Andy a little farther.

When some guy, a senior from their high school, started flirting with Mari, she knew what he was expecting, what he wanted. She didn't really care, and so she humored him. Not too long after, they were going off to the upstairs area, finding a room.

The one thing Mari would say to the group when she got back was that this guy was very entertaining. It was a bit comedic, and a bit depressing. She felt bad for any girls he may have dated before then.

The party had karaoke, and of course give only a few hours and Penny had practically taken it over, belting along to Taylor Swift songs that were barely in her range.

Clarice and Alex watched this all very amused, as Andy sat next to them and laughed at Penny's antics, definitely drunk.

The group decided it was time to leave when Jack got into a fist fight with some guy because he'd been hitting on a girl and she'd been uncomfortable. Not without telling off the guy and making sure the girl was okay, but once they had, they dragged Mari, Andy, and the twins out of the house and into their cars.

Clarice drove Andy and Mari home, and Alex drove the twins home.

-

There was a knock on the door.

"Mari! It's for you!"

"Can you get it?!"

"Can't, I'm making the girls' dinner."

Mari groaned dramatically, before getting off of the couch and opening the door.

"Jeez, you look like shit."

"Yeah, a hangover will do that."

Alex came into the house, and sat down on the couch next to Mari.

They turned the TV on, and put on a movie, though they barely paid attention to it, talking to each other more as they basically babysat Mina and Ami.

Eventually, the others arrived. First Clarice, then the twins, and then Andy, who brought Drew.

They had pizza for dinner (the toddlers having the food Mika cooked), and after the babies went to bed they retired to Mari's room to hang out.

"So, any summer plans?" Penny asked, snacking on a family sized bag of cheetos she refused to let anyone else touch.

Mari, who was laying on her bed with her head hanging over the side, shrugged awkwardly. "I don't know. Chill out, I guess?"

"Olivia and April want to go to Disney World." Clarice said from where she was inside of Mari's closet, looking for something to try to wear, "They invited Andy too, but they wouldn't pay for him."

"Nice."

"I'm chaperoning at a local summer camp, but that's more because Ellen told me I should." Jack said, somehow sitting on the top of Mari's dresser that was at least three fourths his height.

Ellen was the twins' foster mom, a nice middle aged woman who had been nothing but kind to the group. They all adored her.

"Of course you did. You'd do anything she said." Penny teased.

"No I wouldn't." Jack replied, leaning over to try to grab Penny's cheetos from where she stood near the dresser. She stepped away quickly, batting at his hand.

Alex rolled his eyes, "Dude, yeah you would."

"No, I wouldn't."

"Whatever floats your boat."

They laughed.

"What about you, Alex? What are you doing?"

Alex sat up from where he was dramatically draped over Mari's desk. He paused, seeming to regain his balance.

"Sat up too fast." He said, "Anyways, my parents are taking in another kid sometime soon."

"Oh, that's cool." Jack said, "Do you know anything about this kid yet?"

"Um... a little girl, about Drew's age." Alex said, thinking, "Her name is Martha, they didn't tell me her last name. She looks uncannily like me when I was little."

"Interesting." Penny asked, stroking her chin, "Maybe you're related."

Alex shrugged, "That's highly unlikely, but good theory."

"I know one thing that is likely." Mari said.

"And what is that?"

"You're a nerd."

"Well then I'm a very hot nerd."

Mari burst out laughing, quickly followed by the rest of the group.

Once the initial awkwardness of Mari's confession had passed, the two had grown even closer as friends. Mari's feelings died quicker than she'd expected, but it really was for the better.

"Yeah, sure, whatever helps you sleep at night." Mari said once they all calmed down.

Alex squawked, "Excuse me! I am attractive!"

"Sure."

"You literally had a crush on me a few months ago."

Mari couldn't help but laugh more, "Too soon, too soon."

Alex grinned, and Mari smiled back.

Yeah, thank whatever higher power existed that Mari's feelings were gone. This was so much better.

-

"Matt?" Alex heard his adopted mom call from downstairs, "We're gonna go pick up Martha, we'll be right back."

"Okay!" He replied, yelling in the direction of his bedroom door.

He heard the door open, then close, and Alex was alone. Only one thing to do.

While his parents were gone, he forgot the book he'd been reading in favor of singing along to Britney Spears. When they got back, he paused the music, before heading downstairs.

When he got to the living room, he saw his dad holding a little girl.

Wow, she really did look related to him, even more than in the photo.

She had red hair, a similar color to Alex's but a little blonder, fair skin with lots of freckles, and bright blue eyes. She didn't look exactly like Alex, there were differences, of course, but she definitely looked like she could be related to him.

"Martha, meet Matthew." His mom cooed.

"Hi." He said.

She just stared at him, but he couldn't blame her. She was one year old, almost two, and based on how her parents had described her from the other time they'd met her, she was a quiet kid.

The rest of the night was a blur. Martha was asleep by 7, and his parents spent a good half an hour after that just watching her, before joining him in the living room watching TV.

"So, what's her story?" Alex asked.

"What do you mean?"

"How'd she end up in the system?"

His parents made eye contact, "Remember what happened to the Williams family last year?"

Alex's blood ran cold.

The Williams.

No, he didn't know what had happened to them. What had happened to them?

"No, I don't remember hearing anything about that." He replied coolly, despite the fact that he was anything but calm.

"Well, Cathlene and Johnathan - such nice people, we'd been friendly with them before we adopted you - they got into a car crash." His mom said, "They were on their way to pick up Martha from daycare. Neither survived."

Alex felt like it was hard to breathe. But he pretended everything was fine, how would he explain why he felt how he did without revealing everything? He couldn't.

"Oh." He managed, "That's sad."

"Yeah." His dad said, "When we found out who her parents were we just had to meet her."

Alex's mom said something, but he didn't hear it over his own thoughts.

"I've gotta go to the bathroom, be right back." He muttered after a moment, and his parents did nothing but shrug and let him.

He stepped into the bathroom, taking in the blue painted walls and the ocean themed curtain and trying to avoid looking at himself in the mirror as he walked over to the toilet, sitting down on it with the lid still on, curling up into a ball.

The Williams were his parents.

Cathlene and Johnathan, those were his parents' names. He and the group had decided to do some research on their families. Andy's mother's name was Olivia, Mari's parents were Veronica and Jason, Clarice's mom was Catherine, the twins' parents were Penelope and Dominic, and Alex's parents were Cathlene and Jonathan.

Of course, they'd done this research back in middle school. Back in middle school, Martha wouldn't have been born, how was he supposed to know about her.

He guessed that Penny's theory wasn't as unlikely as he thought.

-

"Jesus, Alex, why'd you call me so suddenly?" Mari asked, opening the door.

"I just, I need to vent, and it involves something kind of important and I feel like you're the first person I'd go to." Alex said, talking a mile a minute, "And it kind of involved Freddy's, but like not a lot, more involving my biological parents, and I didn't want to talk about it over the phone and I just-"

"Woah, breathe, dude, it's okay." Mari said, placing one hand on his shoulder, the other going to his face to wipe away a few stray tears, "Go to my room, I'm gonna get you some water and some paper towels, and then you can talk to me."

"Okay." He replied, before doing what she said.

"Hi Alex." Mika mumbled as he walked by the kitchen, where she sat on a counter eating some sort of leftovers. He waved in reply, before going to Mari's room and sitting on her bed, kicking off his shoes.

He heard Mari and Mika talking for a moment, but before he knew it the door was being opened and Mari walked in, closing the door behind her and handing Alex a glass of ice water, putting a roll of paper towels on the bedside table.

"Okay, talk to me. What happened?" She said, taking his free hand in an attempt to comfort.

He took a deep breath.

"Remember how Penny joked about Martha being possibly related to me?" He asked.

"Yeah?"

"She was right."

"Really?"

"Yeah," Alex said, his voice breaking, "She's my sister. My parents died last year."

Mari's eyes widened, and before Alex knew what was happening, she pulled him into a hug - putting his water on the bedside table - and he began to sob into her shoulder.

"It's okay." She whispered, "It'll be okay."

"I just," He sniffled, before pulling away from Mari, "I never knew them. Everything happened when we were only six, I can barely remember them."

"Yeah." Mari replied, more just to signify she was listening than anything.

"I don't know, I guess I just felt like maybe one day I could-" He hiccuped, "I could meet them again. Even if it was as- as Matthew, and they didn't know it was really me. At least I could've maybe met them."

"I get it." Mari said, nodding.

"And now I- I can't, because they- they're-" He sobbed again, and Mari pulled him into another hug.

"It's not fair." He cried, "Why'd this have to happen to us?"

"I don't know, hun." Mari replied, "I don't know."

They continued to hug, as Alex's sobbing turned to the occasional whimper, but they weren't going to stop hugging anytime soon.

"Think about it like this, though." Mari said, "You have a sister now. Who you _can_ have in your life. You can help take care of her, you can be there for her."

"Yeah." Alex said.

"Trust me when I say I understand how you feel. You know my dad went missing after the incident." Mari said, "And sure, technically we know where he physically is, but it's not him in there anymore. It's whatever fucked up monster of a person decided to kill us."

"I know, I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry, you can still be sad about _your_ family. But know that we're here for you, and we'll be there for you. I don't know about you, but i feel like we've become a family of our own by now, y'know?"

"Yeah." Alex said again, pulling away from Mari and wiping at his eyes, "Yeah."

Mari leaned over to the bedside table, before offering the glass of water, the ice now melted and the glass itself covered in droplets of water, "Now, let's get you hydrated."

Alex chuckled, taking the water. "Yeah."

When he got home, his mom was still awake, waiting up for him. He spared her the details, but told her where he went. And though he could tell she thought something less appropriate was going on, she didn't push the topic, so he didn't either.

The morning after, he sat down at the breakfast table, only to see Martha sitting nearby in a high chair, eating some dry cheerios. As the day progressed, and he tried to spend time with her, he knew that he wanted to be there for her.

She was his younger sister, and he was going to be the older brother he was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now we're at the last few chapters. Fun. Yay. The next two chapters are filler, but the last two are.... Angsty. Like I needed to take a walk after I wrote them to feel like a person again. Prepare for that!


	11. Trust Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning(s): sex mention, cursing, little kids hitting each other so sorta violence(????), highschool parties, alcohol consumption, underage drinking, kissing, making out, implied sex, implied playing with somebody's emotions
> 
> The song this chapter is named for is Trust Me by CK9C.

Mari used to hate gossip. It was mean and petty and more often than not caused drama.

Now, though, Mari lived for it.

Of course, she didn't participate in it. But she might as well have, considering how much she was talked about. Most of the things said about her were on the mean side, but she didn't care what the other kids thought. To her, it was all a game, and it was funny.

So she wasn't surprised on Monday morning when Carina came up to her in her first period. It was the Monday after a party she'd gone to where she'd slept with Dillain, some popular dude Carina was friends with. When she entered the school that morning, she'd seen that whole friend group start whispering, she could practically hear the things they were saying in the crowd of students.

Though, she didn't really care. If anything, Carina coming up to her was funny.

"So I heard that you and Dillain slept together." Carina sneered.

"Yep." Mari said with a smug smile.

Carina scoffed, "Why does anyone even want _you_?"

She quickly turned away, walking over to her friends looking like she thought she'd done the coolest thing ever. Mari just laughed to herself, flipping to a new page in her agenda to write down her homework because she knew Alex had this next period and that he'd forget.

At lunch, she sat down at the group's usual spot, now behind the bleachers rather than on them.

"I have a new mission." She said, sitting down next to Alex.

"Which is?" Andy replied.

"Carina asked earlier today why anyone 'wants' me." Mari said, "I'm gonna see if I can help her understand."

"Mari, y'know she's straight, right?" Penny asked.

"Well, I know she likes guys. I don't know if she's straight." Mari said, "I'll obviously back off if she is, but I don't think she is."

"Why do you think that?" Andy asked.

"She had such an obvious crush on Julie last year. They were all over each other, and you could tell she wasn't happy when Julie got a boyfriend." Mari said, "Plus, I can just feel it."

"Really? That could've just been her being a clingy friend or something, you know how she is." Clarice said.

"Nah, I can see where Mari is coming from." Alex said, "I highly doubt she's straight. And I dated her."

"Of course, if she is straight, then the mission is off, but like, imagine if it actually succeeds." Mari said.

"It would be pretty funny." Jack said.

Was this kind of mean? Yes.

But they were stupid teenagers.

-

"You seriously said that to her?" Mika asked.

"Yeah." Mari laughed, "And I swear I've been like, chipping away at that fake ass behavior."

Mika sighed, "Y'know, be careful. She's a bitch, but don't hurt her."

"Oh, no, she still hates me." Mari said, "I just think she's also more attracted to me than she says."

"See, and that's where you stop telling me about your sex escapades."

Mari burst out laughing. "Fair, fair."

It had been a few weeks since Mari had decided her mission, and so far it had been going according to her - not very good, to be honest - plan, to her surprise.

The car parked, and the two quickly got out, walking into the daycare. The twins, who were now about two, not too far from three, were happy to run to their mom and aunt. Before they could leave the room and sign out the kids, though, they were stopped by one of the teachers.

Teachers? Was that what they were called? Mari didn't remember, and didn't really care.

"Before you leave, I want you to know that Ami hit somebody today." The teacher said.

"Oh," Mika said, "What happened?"

"He pulled at Mina's hair, and Ami hit him."

Mari tried to not be too happy, but she couldn't help but be glad that the twins were standing up for each other. Mari could tell that Mika felt the same way.

"Okay, we'll make sure to tell her that was bad." Mika said.

"Thank you."

Then they were back in the car, and then they were back home.

"What do you want to watch?" Mari asked, going through the assortment of movies they owned.

After a little bit of what could only be described as bickering they decided on The Little Mermaid, which they watched while eating dinner.

The evening was a blur, and pretty soon Mika and Mari were watching the end of The Little Mermaid in the living room alone, the twins asleep.

"So, I'm guessing you're gonna get home late tomorrow?" Mika asked.

It was Friday, and tomorrow there was a party happening. Between the fact that Mari just generally hung out with the group late on Saturdays and the fact that she'd mentioned there was a party going on, it was a logical assumption to make.

"Yeah." Mari said.

"Will I need to pick you up?"

"Nope, we got our regular designated drivers."

"But you'll call me if something comes up?"

"Duh."

"Okay, good."

They were quiet for a moment. "Do you know if Carina is gonna be there?"

Mari chuckled, "Yep. She was talking all about it with her friends, or so Jack tells me."

"Hm, Jack, you never really know if you can trust him." Mika said.

Mari chuckled, "Yep. He is a fun one."

"You're all fun ones."

Mari snickered, nudging Mika.

"It's true!"

"Well then you are, too! You're my sister after all!"

"Good! I think I'm fun!"

Mari laughed, trying to stay quiet so as to not wake the twins.

The phone rang, and Mari got up to answer it. It was probably Alex asking about their Language Arts homework, he always forgot to write it down and didn't always understand the questions.

-

The TV played some sports game in the background while a large enough group of kids sat in the living room, the furniture moved back to fit them all. There was an empty beer bottle, one that had been emptied by somebody Mari didn't know and didn't care to remember.

The kids were chanting "Spin the bottle!" and Mari couldn't help but join in, grinning and trying not to laugh too much that she'd be unable to speak. She was definitely drunk, but sober enough to be rational. Reckless though, that was for sure.

The chanting ended eventually, and she could hear over the few remaining cheers Carina's voice, saying something about how "this is stupid!"

This could be fun.

Pretty soon the group had lost a few pairs of kids (much to Mari's amusement), and the rest seemed to be as amused as she was. Some kids were wiping at their mouths with disgust, and others seemed more than happy.

Ah, drunk teenagers. The pinnacle of comedy.

She wasn't paying attention when the bottle landed on her. And looking at the one who'd spun it, Mari saw Carina.

A grin made its way onto her face.

Oh, this would be _fun_.

"Ugh, shut up." Carina mumbled, "Hurry up."

Mari chuckled, quickly scooting over to the flustered girl. She lifted Carina's head up by her chin, and kept her hold there, seeing the smaller details of her face.

"Y'know I'll only kiss you if you're okay with it, rules be damned." Mari whispered, her expression changing from cocky to serious.

Carina didn't even seem to think about it before she responded with, "No, it's okay."

_Bingo._

Like a switch had been flipped, Mari's confident attitude returned, and she pulled Carina in closer, pressing their lips together.

Carina seemed to melt into it, kissing back almost immediately. Mari could barely repress a smirk at that, but she did as Carina pulled her closer. She attempted to deepen the kiss, see how far she could take it, and Carina seemed to be perfectly fine about it.

A bunch of kids - some dumbass boys who probably thought this was hot, Mari later realized - cheered, and Mari guessed it made Carina remember where she was, because she pulled away quickly after that, immediately stumbling back to her previous place in the circle. Mari sat there for a second, caught off guard, before shrugging it off and heading back to her spot.

Mari caught Carina alone after the game had ended, and some sloppy hate-flirting later they were finding themselves in a guest room.

Mission accomplished.

-

Mari and the group were walking to the bleachers, heading to lunch, when they crossed paths with Carina in the main hall of the school.

She seemed to stop for a moment, making eye contact with Mari, who winked at her, before quickly rushing away, significantly more flustered than she'd been before.

"Woah, wait, you actually did it? I stopped paying attention after, like, ten." Penny asked.

Mari couldn't help but laugh, "Yeah, I did."

They made their way to the bleachers.

"No offense, Mari, but I didn't think you could do it." Andy said, "And I mean that to say I thought she was straight."

"None taken." Mari said, "And what did I tell you?"

"I told you she was right!" Alex exclaimed, "But you still doubted us."

"Honestly, it was quite rude of you." Mari said.

Jack rolled his eyes, but the joke received a laugh from the other three. Mari and Alex simply made eye contact, before breaking into giggles of their own.

After the laughter died down, they munched on their food for a bit, quiet.

"I wonder if it'll go anywhere." Jack thought aloud.

"If what will go anywhere?" Penny asked.

"I wonder if Mari's whole 'mission' with Carina will end as planned or if it'll go anywhere." Jack said, "You never know."

"What are you insinuating?" Alex asked.

"I'm not insinuating anything, I'm just wondering." Jack replied, in the tone he always used when he was gossiping or attempting to be sly.

"Yeah, whatever you're wondering, it's not happening." Mari said, "I have no interest in her whatsoever."

"Maybe you shouldn't have done that, then." Andy said, "I mean, if you don't care about her."

"Meh, a little casual sex doesn't hurt anybody." Mari said flippantly, taking a bite of her sandwich.

"Well, she might not have viewed it as casual." Penny said.

"I'm pretty sure she did, we didn't exactly like each other beforehand, and still don't." Mari said, "I wouldn't call what we did hate fucking, but I wouldn't completely deny it if somebody else did."

"Ew, I don't wanna hear about that!" Alex exclaimed, shoving Mari.

Mari just laughed, shoving Alex back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah this one is basically a filler lol. But it's like semi-important to some of the more emotional side of the story a bit later in the story (remember this is the first in a trilogy).
> 
> I'm gonna start asking questions at the end of the remaining chapters, bc I'm fishing for comments. Gonna be honest.
> 
> So, today's question(s): Who's your favorite character? Why? Do you have a least favorite, and if so, who?
> 
> Y'all don't have to feel obligated to answer these if you don't want, I just like comments and I like seeing people's opinions about my stories and my characters.
> 
> Also sorry for posting later in the week than normal, school started for me this week so I got caught up in that!


	12. Welcome Back

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning(s): little kids getting hurt, cursing, murder mention, death mention, implied trauma
> 
> The song that this chapter is named after is Welcome Back by TryHardNinja

Mari woke up to the sound of her bedroom door being opened, and the shuffle of small feet on the floor.

" _Tía_ , wake up." Mari heard a little voice say.

She turned over, dramatically groaning before opening her eyes to see two smiling toddlers. She grinned at them, and they giggled back at her.

Ami ran out of the room, obviously thinking Mari would get up and chase her.

"Mama made bekfas." Mina said.

Mari chuckled, sitting up, before ruffling Mina's hair, receiving a squeal. "Well I better get up then, huh?"

They walked out of the room together, Mina in front of Mari, and Mari walked into the kitchen.

"G'morning." She said, "Anything I can help with?"

Mika shook her head, "Nope, but thanks. Just sit down and keep the little ones entertained."

Mari nodded, before making her way to the couch and asking the twins what they wanted to watch on TV.

-

Mari was sitting at one of the picnic tables next to the playground, where Clarice, Andy, and Alex were sitting.

She'd offered to take the girls to the local park, knowing that her friends would be there with the kids the twins' age in their families. Mika had been more than happy to spend a day to herself, and so they'd made their way to the park.

"And then I said-"

"Mommy! Mar!" Drew exclaimed, running over to them as fast as he could, being two years old, "Ami fell!"

Mari stood up, "Really? Where is she?"

Drew pointed over at a spot under the jungle gym, and Mari walked over. There she saw Ami, sitting down with Martha and Mina next to her, crying. Taking a closer look at her knees, which were currently bright red and somewhat scratched, she did her best not to hiss at the sight. Luckily they weren't bleeding.

"What's wrong, baby?" Mari asked, kneeling in front of her niece.

Ami hiccuped, "It hu-urts."

"Where does it hurt?"

Ami pointed at her knees.

"Do you want band-aids?" Mari asked, knowing she had some in her bag.

Ami nodded, and Mari carried Ami over to the table, where she quickly cleaned off Ami's knees with some bottled water before putting a band-aid on each knee.

"There you go! Are you feeling any better?" Mari asked.

Ami nodded, sniffling, and Mari lifted her off of the table, back on to the ground. She ran off, back to playing with the group.

"'M the dragon!" Ami exclaimed, chasing Drew, "And I'm gonna take the prince!"

"No!" Martha said, as she and Mina chased after Ami, "Save the prince!"

The adults laughed as the kids seemed to play their own version of defeat the dragon, ending when Martha, Mina, and Drew ran over to the table the adults were sitting at, giggling about how they "did it."

Some other highlights of their day was a game of tag, including both the adults and the kids, and when they played hide-and-seek (ignoring that the kids were still learning to count and tended to jump from the number three to six when counting to ten).

They ended their day at the park with ice cream, before heading home. Not too long after that, the twins crashed, which made sense, it was around the time their nap was anyway.

-

It was another day spent on the bleachers, and it was the group's last week as highschool seniors.

"Guys, guys, get this." Jack said, pointing at some sentence in the book he was reading, "'Maybe the real treasure was the friends we made along the way.' _Boring_! This is why he left his completely normal, happy life? Some fake ass treasure that wasn't really there?"

"Give me that." Clarice said, snatching the book, and reading a few paragraphs, "Dude, it's literally a trap, and he says that right before they activate it. I betcha there's some treasure beyond that."

"Oh."

"Honestly 'the friends we made along the way' sounds like it could be a band name." Penny said.

"I mean, yeah, maybe." Alex said, before seeming to think about it, "Okay, yeah, definitely. That one's going on the list. Andy, add that to the list."

Andy rolled his eyes, but he flipped to a page in his notebook and wrote down the potential name like Alex said to.

What had once been a joking hypothetical about starting a band now was more of a possible reality. Alex and Mari didn't really want anything to do with it, Alex not being a fan of performing and Mari not wanting to deal with the potential stress of being in a band, but they were still helping the remaining four in the group, who were genuinely trying to start a band.

Of course, they were still stuck on a name. But they were writing a list, that had new name ideas added and old ones crossed out every day.

"That name seems a little long, though, don't you think?" Andy said.

After hearing Mari snort, Andy quickly turned to her, "Don't you dare try to make an inappropriate joke out of that."

Mari burst out laughing.

"I don't see how one could even make a joke out of that." Alex said.

"Oh trust me, _Mari_ could." Andy said, glaring at the girl in question.

"Heck yeah I could." Mari said.

"Why are you like this?"

"You know you love me."

-

1:00 AM

Mari ignored the time on her clock. She refused to go to sleep until she got this button sewn back onto her shirt.

"This is the last time I let Alex borrow a shirt of mine." She muttered, trying to pull out the loose, broken strings that showed where the previous button had been.

There were two quick knocks on her door, that she probably wouldn't have heard if she wasn't sitting in silence.

"Come in." She said.

Mika opened the door, stepping into the room and closing the door behind her before sitting next to Mari on the bed.

"Whatcha up to?" Mika asked.

"Repairs." Mari replied, holding up the shirt.

"I don't want to know what you did to break it."

"More like what _Alex_ did."

"Oh? How so?"

"Ew, not like that. I let him borrow it."

Mika tilted her head to the side, "How come?"

"We borrow each other's clothes when we want to." Mari said with a shrug.

She glared at Mika when she smirked, her expression looking like she was about to make an inappropriate joke. Mari made the expression enough to recognize it.

"Ugh, it's not like that." Mari said, "I literally just said that."

"I know, but it annoys you, and your reaction is funny." Mika chuckled.

"Well, did you come here for any reason besides to torture me?" Mari asked.

"Yes, drama queen, I did." Mika said, "I wanted to ask you for.... confirmation of something? Is that the word?"

Mika nodded after a moment, "Yeah. Confirmation."

"Confirmation about what?" Mari asked, resting the shirt on her lap.

"I'm sure you heard about the new restaurant that opened recently." Mika said.

Mari immediately knew what her sister was getting at.

How could she not know about the new restaurant opening? With all the ads about the "New and improved Freddy Fazbear's Pizza" it was impossible to not know about it.

"Yeah. What about it?" Mari asked.

"Well, I was wondering if you think it's safe to take the girls there." Mika said, "I kind of want to take them, but I'm a bit nervous about it, for obvious reasons."

Mari looked at the floor, trying to think about it.

It had been a while since the last time they'd seen "The Killer," as they'd dubbed the man who had, well, killed them. Hell, the last time they'd seen him was... the incident... with their guardians.

Yeah, Mari didn't like thinking about it.

It seemed safe, though. The incident had been, what, five years ago? It had been a while, yet they hadn't seen any sign of the killer.

Yeah, it seemed safe.

"Yeah, I think it'd be fine." Mari said, "Obviously be careful, but I think it's fine."

"Alright, thanks." Mika said, "I wanted to check with you, considering..."

"Everything." Mari said, filling in the unfinished sentence, "Yeah."

Mika stood up, walking to the door, "Well, I'll leave you to your 'repairs.'"

"Good night." Mari said, knowing that it was around the latest Mika would go to bed.

"'Night." Mika replied, closing the door.

-

"I wrote a song."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

Jack gestured to the notebook he was doodling in. "I wrote it a few days ago."

"Was that what you were writing down when I was grabbing a snack?" Penny asked.

Jack looked away, "Yeah."

"Well, let's give it a listen." Mari said.

"Wha- really?" Jack asked, "You sure?"

"Uh, yeah, dude. We want to start a band anyway, right? Let's listen." Andy said.

"That'd feel weird, just read it." Jack said, quickly flipping to a page and nearly tossing the notebook to Andy.

"I have no clue what the melody is, but these are some decent lyrics, Jack." Clarice said, reading over Andy's shoulder.

"Really?" Jack asked, "You're not fucking with me?"

"Nope." Andy said, popping the p, "That seems like a decent song."

"What's the melody?" Clarice asked, "Is it something like..." She proceeded to hum what Mari assumed to be an attempt at a melody for the chorus.

"No, but honestly that sounded better than what I'd come up with." Jack said.

"Clarice, doesn't Olivia have a guitar?" Penny asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"Let's make this song more than just some lyrics!"

So they pulled out the guitar, and Alex and Andy put together a basic idea for an instrumental using said guitar. They tweaked a few of the lyrics, just changing some odd rhymes or words that didn't really sound as good.

But, they definitely had a song.

"Guys, we have to like, record this. I know I won't remember this song tomorrow and we gotta give a refresher." Penny said.

So they broke out the camera Clarice had gotten for her birthday, and the next thing they knew, they had a song.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter I started asking y’all questions about the story, so here goes!
> 
> This chapter’s question(s): What’s your favorite version of each character you’ve seen so far? As this story has progressed, the characters have grown up, so which general age have you liked the characters at the most?


	13. The Puppet Song

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning(s): cursing, anxiety, panic, implied kidnapping, implied child murder, implied child death, implied loss of a sibling, mourning, implied disassociation
> 
> The song this chapter is named after is The Puppet Song by TryHardNinja.

"Guys! Guys! Guys!" Penny exclaimed, rushing into Alex's house, Clarice, Andy, and her twin following behind, looking just as excited.

"What?" Mari said, "What happened?"

"We're signed!" Penny exclaimed, "A producer liked our music! This band thing might just actually get bigger than we thought!"

Mari's eyes widened, accompanied with a smile, "No way, you fucks actually did it!"

"I know! It's amazing, right?!" Andy exclaimed, sitting down next to Mari.

"And he liked the song I wrote!" Jack said, "The song _I_ wrote!"

"He also liked a song of mine!" Penny said, attempting to compete.

"Yeah, but my songs don't have the same sound." Jack said, "And you can't ruin this for me!"

"There are still some details we need to figure out, but it's definitely happening." Clarice said, grinning, "I'm really excited!"

-

They were getting ice cream, hanging out at the park with the kids and the additions of Jack and Penny when the band seemed to have a silent conversation.

"What?" Mari said.

"Huh?" Jack replied.

"You guys are up to something." Alex said, "You're stealing our thing."

"'Your thing?'" Clarice asked.

"Alex and I have the conversations with only our eyes! What are you guys doing with that?!" Mari replied.

"Well, we've got something to tell you." Andy said.

"What is it?" Alex asked, relaxing in his seat.

Jack nudged Penny, who rolled her eyes.

She cleared her throat. "We're going on tour."

"You're what?" Alex asked.

The band seemed to all look at each other. "We're going on tour." Andy repeated.

"Yeah, I got that, I just need a minute." Alex said, turning so his side faced the group.

"That's so awesome!" Mari exclaimed, but the surprise was evident in her voice.

Alex turned back to the group, "Sorry about that, I still haven't fully wrapped my head around it, but that is awesome!"

"When is the tour starting?" Mari asked.

"In a few months we'll be going."

-

"Do you have everything?"

"Yes, mother hen, I do. We all do."

Mari huffed, "I know, I'm just nervous."

"Yeah, I don't blame you." Jack said, "Have we ever spent anything longer than a week separated like this?"

"I don't think so." Alex said.

"Well, we did when there was that hurricane a few years ago." Andy said.

"Yeah, but we hung out as soon as we could." Clarice said, "And didn't we call each other as soon as we could? It wasn't like the hurricane was that bad, none of us were in danger."

"True." Penny said, "Fuckin' Florida weather."

"I never thought I'd say this, but if we go anywhere cold, I might actually miss this eternal summer!" Jack said.

"No you won't."

"No I won't."

They all laughed.

Then the car stopped at the airport. They all stepped out, getting the luggage and everything out.

"Well, I guess we gotta go." Penny said.

They seemed to just stand there for a minute, before they went in for a group hug, like they used to hug after something happened at Freddy's.

Mari kneeled to be eye-level with Drew, who sat in a stroller.

"You better behave, young man." She said to the three year old.

He just laughed, "I will."

"Good." She said with a nod.

"See ya', little man." Alex said.

The band stepped into the airport, and Alex and Mari stayed where they were until they couldn't see their friends anymore.

-

Mari sat on the couch, playing with some string as she watched some TV show she didn't care about.

Mika and the twins were currently at Freddy's, and Mari was expecting to come home at any time now.

Actually - she checked the clock - she'd expected them to show up for a good hour now. She tried not to overthink it. They probably just got caught up, or lost track of time.

_But what if something happened?_

_No, everything's fine._

_But what if it isn't?_

Mari quickly sat up, rubbing at her eyes in hopes that she'd stop stressing. Of course, she didn't, so she turned the TV off and slipped on her shoes with annoyance.

She drove to Freddy's, too nervous to teleport there (it was too out in the open, she could be seen), and she parked the car on the outskirts of the parking lot.

Her stomach dropped when she saw Mika sitting outside of the entrance to the obviously closed restaurant, crying and holding Mina close to her.

Mari couldn't see Ami anywhere.

She ran the rest of the way to get to the restaurant.

"Mika! What happened?!" She exclaimed.

Mika looked up at her, before bursting into tears again.

"I- I just- I don't-" She broke down into sobs.

Mari kneeled down, and managed to get Mina out of Mika's arms, with little struggle.

"Breathe, Mika, take deep breaths. Like Liz taught us." Mari said, "In for four, hold for seven, out for eight."

Mika did the breathing exercise, and though she didn't stop crying, it got her breathing more under control.

"Is it okay for me to ask what happened again?" Mari asked. She was shocked at how calm she seemed. Really, she was panicking, and had already gone through a number of hypotheticals, some more ridiculous than others. But her sister needed her.

"I-" Mika hiccupped, "I just looked away for one minute. Not even a minute. And I looked back and- Ami. She was just... g-gone."

Mari swore her heart stopped at that moment, and she held Mina tighter, though she ignored it.

"I tried to look for her but they- they kicked me out. After they closed." Mika said.

"What's happening? Where's Ami?" Mina asked.

Mari looked down at her niece, and saw her crying as well, likely confused and overwhelmed at the sight of her mom crying. Mari felt her own eyes water, but she tried to blink the tears away.

"I don't know, sweetie." She said, moving some of Mina's hair out of her face.

"We should go to the police." Mari said.

"What if it's too late?" Mika said, sounding frantic, "Or what if it's actually nothing and she just got lost?"

"If she got lost she'd have been found by now, don't you think?" Mari asked, "And it's worth a try."

Mika nodded, sniffling and wiping at her tear stained face. "Okay. Okay."

-

As soon as they'd gotten home Mari had gone straight to her room and broken down. With the door locked, she screamed and sobbed into her pillow before throwing said pillow across the room.

Her bedroom looked like a hurricane had gone through it, and she was sitting in the middle of it, feeling almost numb now. The only remnants of her previous feelings were the dried tears on her face, the mess around her, and the fatigue she felt.

She heard the phone ring in the kitchen, and knew Mika wouldn't answer it. It continued to ring.

Of course, almost immediately after it had stopped ringing, it started ringing again. And then another time.

On the fourth time, Mari got up and rushed to it, wanting the phone to stop ringing.

" _What?_ " She snapped into the receiver, not caring about who was on the other line.

"M-Mari." There was a sob following her name on the other line.

 _Alex_.

"What's wrong? What happened?" She asked, trying not to sound as frantic as she felt. Alex was emotional, and he got upset about a lot of silly things, but he sounded _broken_.

"My- My parents took Martha to Freddy's..."

She didn't hear the rest of the sentence, but she didn't need to hear it to know what he'd said.

"The same happened with Ami today." She said, moving so that her back was against the wall, "I don't know what to do."

"Can I come over?" Alex asked, "I need company, and I need someone who understands."

"Of course."

He showed up much sooner than he physically could. Mari knew he teleported, but she didn't say anything.

-

"Hey guys."

"Hey."

On the other side of the Skype call, the four others who made their group a whole were sitting in front of Andy's laptop in a tour bus. On the side Mari and Alex were in, they were in Mari's room, where there was still a mess.

Everything felt darker there, the shadows were deeper and everything had less color. Of course, both Alex and Mari knew that wasn't technically possible, but it was definitely what it felt like.

"Any updates on Ami and Martha?" Jack asked.

Alex gulped, and Mari already saw the tears forming in his eyes. Mari nodded, looking away from the screen.

It had already been a few weeks, and there had been no updates besides when the searches started. No updates until today.

"They called the searches off." Mair said, feeling like she was almost whispering it.

She guessed she didn't whisper it, because it was obvious the band had heard it, based on their faces, an overall mix of shock, sympathy, and sadness.

"How's Mika taking it?" Clarice asked.

Mari couldn't help but remember her sister's face when they'd been told. She'd barely held it together until they were back at home. Mika seemed to be even worse than Mari. The once vibrant woman was now practically silent, her expression barely changing as she seemed a shell of her former self.

Mari could almost compare her current behavior as dreamy, as if she had checked out and was just going through the motions.

"She's not." Alex said, when Mari didn't provide an answer.

"How's Mina?" Penny asked, "This has to be hard on her."

Mari blinked a few times, trying to get back into the conversation. "She was pretty confused at first, but she knows what happened now. I don't think she's processing it. She's not fine, per se, but she's doing better than any of us."

"Poor girl." Andy said, "Poor everyone. I wish we could be there with you."

Mari sniffed, and ignored the tears that were trying - and succeeding - to slip out.

"Yeah." She said, repressing sobs, "I wish you were here, too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all we're nearing the end! Omg I've like, dreamed of this day you have no clue!  
> Ok today's question:  
> Which emotional scene was your favorite? This fic has had a lot of angst, and multiple different angsty scenes, so I can't help but wonder which one y'all either liked or were most affected by. So which one?


	14. You Can't Escape Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning(s): funeral mention, death mention, alcohol consumption, underage drinking (she's 20), implied sex, kidnapping mention, a character knowlingly putting themself in danger, panic, violence, a knife, violence, threats of death, character death, murder, blood
> 
> The song this chapter is named after is You Can't Escape Me by CK9C

Mari had never been to a funeral as far as she could remember. Mika said that she had, but she'd been one or two years old at the time, so it made sense she didn't remember. Mika seemed to remember though, it was the funeral of some family friend's mom, and Mika barely remembered it herself.

When Liz had died, nobody had been there to plan a funeral, considering all her friends had died with her and she had no family as far as anyone knew. So she and the group were just buried without a funeral.

But now there were people there to remember the dead, and to honor them.

They'd buried an empty coffin, in hopes that they'd feel some sort of closure. It didn't help at all, and did nothing but remind Mari that her niece had ended up with the same fate as her, only worse, because she hadn't come back.

So it wasn't too shocking, in Mari's opinion, that she ended up at some hole in the wall bar somewhere in town after the funeral.

She was currently holding some drink that she didn't remember the name of, sipping at it every now and then as she stared at the small table in front of her, almost spaced out. She only became aware of her surroundings again when she heard the scraping of a chair, and saw in her peripheral vision someone sit down across from her.

Looking up she saw a guy, who looked at least a few years older than Mika.

"Hey, baby. What's a pretty thing like you doing alone at a place like this?" He said, sounding like a terrible person. Mari didn't care. She could use a distraction.

She got home that night a few hours later than she'd originally planned.

-

"Hey."

"Hey."

Mari sat down across from Alex, where he was sitting at a table. They were currently at a diner that the group used to like. They hadn't quite been regulars there, but they'd definitely liked the diner.

"So, you said you had something to tell me?"

Alex took a deep breath, and Mari felt like whatever he had to say would be something she wouldn't like.

"I'm leaving." He said.

She blinked. "What?"

"I'm leaving this town." Alex said, "I need to start over."

"Okay." Mari replied.

"I don't want to leave you, but I can't stand having reminders of everything that's happened being constantly shoved in my face." Alex said, "Between the absence of Martha at home and the other disappearances, I can't handle it."

Mari nodded. "I get it."

"If you want, you can come with me." Alex said.

"I wish I could." Mari said, staring at her hands, "But I can't leave Mika. She needs me."

Alex hummed. "You know you don't have to always put your sister before yourself. But I respect your decision."

"I know. I need her just as much as she needs me right now." Mari said, "I love you, you know that, but she's some of the only family I have left. I don't know what I'd do if I was away from her."

Alex nodded. "I understand."

Mari took his hand from across the table, "Maybe one day I'll come with you. I just can't right now."

Alex nodded again.

"I promise you I'll keep in touch. We can call every day if you want." He said.

Mari snorted, "You don't _have_ to call me every day. But I appreciate the effort. We are definitely keeping in touch."

-

Mari had noticed the poster one day when she was walking home from work. She was a waitress at some restaurant, and she couldn't care less about the establishment, but it brought in extra money, especially with Mika barely being able to work in her state.

It had been in the window of the grocery store. She didn't normally care about the posters in the window, but her eyes were almost drawn to it.

**HELP WANTED** **  
** **Freddy Fazbear's Pizza** **  
** **Family pizzeria looking for security guard to work the nightshift.** **  
** **12am-6am.** **  
** **Monitor cameras, ensure safety of equipment and animatronic characters.** **  
** **Not responsible for injury/dismemberment.** **  
** **$120 a week.** **  
** **To apply call:** **  
** **1-888-FAZ-FAZBEAR**

_Huh._

So Freddy's needed a night guard?

She'd heard rumors about the original Freddy's having a night guard, but that had been back before she'd been born. In the eighties or something. Around the time Liz had been a kid.

Freddy's definitely wouldn't have needed a night guard just to watch things. It was a kids restaurant. There was something else going on.

She snapped a picture of it with her phone before heading home.

-

"So, you want to apply for a job at Freddy's?" Mika asked.

Mari nodded, "Yep."

"But, _why_?"

"A normal kids restaurant wouldn't try to find a night guard. This is shady. I wanna check it out."

"I guess you're right." Mika shrugged, "But what if it's like, a trap or something? What if it's dangerous?"

"Then I'll fight it off, if it's a trap. And if it's a trap, better me, someone who has powers and experience with the bullshit of Freddy's, than some unsuspecting person." Mari said.

That was not the right thing to say, which Mari realized when Mika looked down.

"I respect your decision to get the job. You're a grown adult, you can make your own choices." Mika said, "But I don't like it. I'll support you, because you're my sister, but I don't like it."

"I get it. I promise you, I'll be careful." Mari said.

"That's all I could hope for." Mika replied.

-

Mari tried not to yawn.

It had been a good month or so since she'd started working as a night guard (and finally quitted her shitty restaurant job, _good riddance_ ), and yet she still seemed to struggle to stay awake some nights.

She had in the end, looked into the animatronics, and discovered that they were hostile towards her. With a little more observation she realized that they were possessed.

Not all of them, though. But Toy Foxy, who was nicknamed Mangle, the Marionette, Toy Freddy, and Toy Chica were possessed. Mari figured it would only be a matter of time before Toy Bonnie and Balloon Boy joined them.

It seemed that the nights got harder as the week progressed, but after the week ended, they'd reset on themselves, and the beginning of the week would be significantly easier than the end.

It was a Thursday, the fourth night, and Mari was itching to get home. She'd been on edge all night, it was weird.

She looked away from the camera for a moment, looking over at the vent to her left. She quickly put the Freddy mask on as Toy Chica crawled out of the vent, and the animatronic took a few seconds to look at Mari, before she seemed satisfied and walked away, down the hall.

Mari took the mask with a sigh of relief, quickly switching to the prize counter in the camera to wind the music box.

She finished winding it and turned the flashlight on, hearing Mangle's familiar static coming from the camera.

But it seemed as soon as the light came on, Mangle had left the room. Somebody else was in the room though, and it wasn't the Marionette.

Mari only caught a flash, but whoever was there was definitely human. She flipped to a different camera, one connected to the prize counter, where she saw a man - the Killer, it looked like, to her horror - run inhumanely fast across the camera.

She grabbed the mask, before nearly booking it out of the office, to the room with the carousel, where the prize counter and a number of other things were.

There she found the Killer, walking around. He turned to her as she approached, a too-wide smile on his face. He didn't move.

Mari didn't think about it much, but the next thing she knew her hands had transformed, her fingers becoming claws as she slashed at the Killer. He simply fazed away, and as he did, Mari seemed to be hit with a wave of dizziness, careening to the side. She fell onto her side, feeling nauseous for a moment, before she regained her composure.

_Run! Get home!_ She thought. But that wasn't her. Even though one couldn't technically hear, it sounded like a different voice than hers. And it sounded familiar, though she couldn't put her finger on where she'd heard it before.

_Go to Mika!_

Mari realized what that might mean, and the next thing she knew, she'd teleported home, right into Mika's room.

As she got there, her heart stopped for a moment, and it felt like she'd forgotten how to breathe.

"Oooh, seems like you got here too late." The Killer said, from where he was positioned behind Mika, a knife to her throat as she struggled.

_Oh god, oh no, oh no, oh no, no, no, no, no, no no no no no nonononononono-_

She straightened her posture, realizing that she couldn't fall into a panic. She wasn't thirteen anymore, she could - and she would - try to fight him off.

"Get away from her." She said shakily.

"Mari-" Mika said, being interrupted by the Killer's hand covering her mouth.

"I don't think I will. I wonder what you'd do to protect your loving _big sister._ " He said, almost teasingly.

Mari lunged towards him, in an attempt to startle him and get Mika out of his grip. And at first she thought it worked, his form suddenly disappearing from Mika. But the next thing Mari knew, she was being pulled back, off of the bed where Mika was currently sitting, frozen in terror.

Almost instinctively, Mari transformed, for the first time in years. She flipped over, only to see the Killer over her.

She kicked at his stomach, managing to push him off of her, before jumping on him to make sure he couldn't get up, couldn't get to Mika again.

Raising her hand, she prepared to slash at his face, but right as she swung her hand down, he grabbed her wrist, stopping her hand that had been mere inches away from his face. Catching her off guard, he managed to flip them over again, and he nicked her arm with the knife.

Positioning the knife above her chest, it was obvious he was about to try to give a killing blow. Mari managed to turn over, knocking him off of her and knocking the knife away. He lunged for it, and she grabbed at his ankle, trying to stop him.

When he suddenly turned towards her and jumped at her, with the knife, she knew she'd failed in trying to keep him away from it. Sparing a glance at the bed, she saw that Mika was no longer sitting there, and she prayed to the god she didn't believe in that Mika wasn't in the room anymore. At this point, Mari was too occupied with the fight to know where Mika was.

That was a bit scary, she wouldn't lie.

She was gripping at the Killer's wrists as he struggled to get a good grip on the knife, trying to plunge it into her throat. Turning the knife suddenly, he cut her hand, and she instinctively pulled away.

  
He then used one hand to pin her hands above her, and used the other to position the knife.

And then there was a click of the doorknob, starting to turn.

_Mika_.

The next thing Mari knew, the Killer was off her, and she heard a scream.

_MIKA!_

She bolted up, trying to get to her sister, but it was too late, when she looked in her direction, she saw Mika standing there, being practically held up by the Killer as a knife stuck out of her chest.

He pulled it out, before stabbing her again. And again, and again, and Mari couldn't bring herself to look away.

And then he let Mika go, falling to the floor, and Mari rushed to catch her sister. Looking up at where he once was, she saw that he was gone.

"M-Mar-" Mika started, before cutting herself off, struggling to breathe.

Mari looked down at her sister, her pajama shirt covered in blood, and her face crumpled, tears forming in her eyes.

"Mika, no." Mari muttered, putting a hand on her sister's face, "I'm so sorry. You shouldn't have anything to do with this."

Mika took a breath, her face pinched in pain, but she took Mari's hand, her grip weak and shaky. "Take... care of- of Mina for... m- me."

Mari sobbed, the sound that came out sounding almost like a subdued scream.

"I will, I will I promise you. I will." She muttered shakily.

"Good." Mika said, "I l-love you..."

Mari nodded, "I love you too."

She held Mika, practically feeling the life drain from her body. It felt hard to breathe, every breath quicker and shallower, and the world seemed to be falling down around her. The room felt both too open and too tight, and she was hyper aware of the blood getting on her hands and shirt.

_Oh god, oh god, oh god, what do I do what do I do what do I do, MikaMikaMikaMikaMika no-_

She sobbed, doubling over as she continued to hold Mika's now-dead body.

Mika was some of the only family she had left. What was she supposed to do now?

She tried to take a deep breath, only to break down sobbing again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Insert evil laughter here.  
> I still can't believe I finished this fic, and I wrote this chapter like a month ago, maybe longer.
> 
> This chapter's question is: Which chapter was your favorite?
> 
> I'll see y'all in Book 2! I'm aiming to completely write it by the end of this year (writing a whole fic is hard), so hopefully by next year you guys should get it!
> 
> Thanks for reading!!!


End file.
